One of my favorite albums of 2006 was by the British trio Field Music called Tones of Town. With vocals shared by brothers David and Peter Brewis, it was everything I want in a record: beautiful harmonies, rhythmic complexity, and economical songwriting. But the thing I loved most was that it was the sound of a band, a trio that clearly fed off one another for energy and ideas. So I was pretty disappointed when Field Music later announced they’d each be doing their own things and ditching the Field Music moniker for a while.
David Brewis’ side project, dubbed School of Language, did away with most of the qualities I found engaging about Field Music. I was really bummed, and I thought I’d never hear another thing like Tones of Town. I understood that artists should be able to make a side project whenever they felt like it, but I felt cheated. “You’re being unfair!” I wanted to write David Brewis. “Isn’t it all about the fans? Don’t you care about pleasing us?”
Instead I calmed down and mostly forgot about Field Music until last week, when the other Brewis, Peter, released his side project, The Week That Was. I didn’t have high expectations going in—how could he make Field Music without Field Music? But, much to my surprise, he pulled it off. And in my joy I started to remember some other impressive side projects.
Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner released a great project this year with The Last Shadow Puppets, which saw him embracing Soviet-style horns and bombast. Just this week, Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen released In Ear Park with Deptartment of Eagles, which explores the same territory as his regular gig without sounding like leftovers.
The members of the New Pornographers all had successful careers in other outfits, but that side project has become so successful that it’s considered their main act now. Other side projects, like Raconteurs, Gorillaz, and the Postal Service, have achieved major chart success, too.
Sometimes side projects are a good place to explore new territory. But sometimes, it seems, artists just need to get their crazy intentions out of their systems before heading back into the studio to make the record we’re all waiting for them to make. Expectations can be a bitch, and I guess the side project is just one way to deal with them.
Have Justin on the side at jhs55@georgetown.edu.
