Fiel Garvie -

track-list: "Right Out and Forced", "Risk", "Hold On", "Better Gaze", "A Man", "Glass Faced Warrior", "Dress Down", "Difference of Me", "Shuffle", "Deliberately Alright", "For What I Love", "OK K"

Anne Reekie and Adam Greene, singer and guitar-player respectively in Fiel Garvie, were brought up in Norwich where they both played in a band named Passing Clouds. After hearing Tricky's "Nearly God"-album (featuring contributions from Björk) in 1996, the adventurous couple decided to leave their old band-mates and explore new musical territories. The duo soon grew into a band and started recording under the strange name Field Garvie, combining the lush keyboards and dark atmospheres of Tricky with gentle, melodic guitar-pop. Their debut-single "Glass faced warrior", which is probably their most Tricky-remiscent work to date, was released already in 1996. It was followed a year later by the gloomy indie-rocker "For what I love", which was chosen Single of the week in Melody Maker, just like The Sugarcubes' "Birthday" ten years earlier. The band's third EP "Difference of me"/"Risk" gained even more attention from the British media and in 2001 Fiel Garvie finally released their long awaited debut-LP "¡Vuka Vuka!" (the title can be translated "Wake up! Wake up!" in Zimbabwean dialect). The album fuses the electronic intimacy of Björk, Tricky and Portishead with the melodic aspects of legendary 80s-complaint-pop-rockers The Smiths. Apart from the previously mentioned single-tracks,"¡Vuka Vuka!" has got eight new songs, which are travelling in a more melodic, guitar-based direction than before, which makes it a surprisingly easy listen. The arrangements are often kept sparse, relying on distorted drum-sounds, gentle guitar-melodies and Annie's powerful, highly dramatic vocals, sounding like a cross between Beth Gibbons (of Portishead) and Björk. The overall image is quite gloomy, affected by feelings of loss and frustration, but there are also some weird, comical elements to be found, making Fiel Garvie seem like somewhat of a cross between Portishead and The Sugarcubes.

"¡Vuka Vuka!" opens, not with a crash, but with a gentle breeze: the opening song "Right out and forced" is highly melodic indie-pop, deafened by lush keyboards, in the vein of American pop-avantgardists Yo La Tengo. The Garbage-remiscent third track "Hold on" stands out a bit from the rest, with Annie making an amusing Shirley Manson-impression. "A man" is successfully assisted by 60s-organ-sounds, which makes it even more Portishead-remiscent than the rest of the album. The contrast between the sweet melodies and the spooky keyboard-sounds is used most efficiently in the smashing single-track "Glass painted warrior", sounding as if Tricky tried to compose cocktail-lounge-jazz. The definitive highlight of "¡Vuka Vuka!" is the closing track "OK K", which is also the gloomiest and most dramatic moment of the album. "OK K" opens gently with a sad guitar-melody assisted by Annie's tormented voice, but gains intensity as the background keyboards becomes audible. All of a sudden the piece turns into a graceful orchestral-sounding crescendo, assisted by Fiel Garvie's most beautiful chorus. The slow beats, sweet melodies and gentle arrangements makes "¡Vuka Vuka!" an amusing album for late night- and background-listenings. Occationally it's very touching. If you're into Björk, Portishead and Sneaker Pimps and you don't feel alienated by guitar-pop, then Fiel Garvie is for you! Read more about them at: http://www.fielgarvie.co.uk