Whether we're talking forays into dance-worthy electronica or glorious keyboard arrangements, every last track on Nocturnal Summer Drift is an out and out banger. Pretty arpeggios and synth flourishes dance in a mesmerising array of technicolour sunshine beams, a warm musical blanket to maintain agreeable temperature in a night-scape of electric giddiness. You'd have to hate your ears not to treat them to this fabulous selection.

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INTERVIEW
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George Ernst (Triplicate Records): What exactly is a 'nocturnal summer'? It sounds warm and dark.

Tim Gilbert (Fields of Few): So the album is basically a musical representation of the transition between the end of a hot summers day and the slow drift towards night. When the air is warm and still, and the sky is filled with lots of colours that slowly give way to stars and planets.
Everything seems to lend itself to peace, a sense of awe and personal reflection.

GE: If there was a new colour what would it look like?

TG: Some sort of self shifting iridescent colour I think.

GE: Do you ever come up with the title first and try to make the music sound like that? Like a cool title you have in mind that you want to use and the music becomes the justification?

TG: Sometimes, but it’s usually an album theme that I come up with, followed by a general feeling of how I want the music to sound, then a couple of sketches of tracks, and then finally the title!

GE: What does being an engineer of reality entail?

TG: It’s basically suggesting that to a large extent, the decisions we make on a day to day basis, and their cumulative effect over time create our reality. In other words, we are not passengers in life (or shouldn’t be).
I usually get in quite a reflective mood in the summer, with more time spent around nature, and general more down time, and it gives you time to think and reconnect.

GE: OK so following on from your answer to my question last October of whether you'd prefer to be hunted by the Blair Witch of a polar bear, you've now made friends with the bear. What's next on the agenda?

TG: 7 months is a long to hang out with a bear so I’m pretty sure I would have moved onto other wildlife.. my knowledge of polar based wildlife is probably not very comprehensive but I’d quite like to hang out with a snowy owl, or even a standard one.

GE: How did you approach this record differently going into it? Did you set out with a different musical agenda to when you made Polar Vessels or did the summer vibes evolve organically?

TG: I’ve listened to a lot of Horizon Fire, Faex Optim, Melorman and Boards of Canada (especially the Campfire Headphase) over the years.. I really love that hazy, warm Lo-Fi sound, so I always wanted to write some music with this sort of feel.. but with my own musical approach at the fore. So this album is definitely been something I’ve wanted to write for a long time.

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REVIEW
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Fields of Few, brainchild of England-based cello-shredding (is that a thing?) multi-talent Tim Gilbert returns with a follow-up to last October's stunning 'Polar Vessels' LP with a slick and sweet selection of pieces that serve as a more-than worthy follow up, under the title 'Nocturnal Summer Drift'. Gilbert's continuing refinement of his art is undeniable, as these nine deliciously colourful compositions take root in the pleasure-holes of your brain-garden.

Speaking of 'colo(u)rful', that's a deeply appropriate adjective to describe the opener. And Gilbert would seem to agree, titling it 'Transitions in Colo(u)r', (note the spelling, Uncle Sam) wherein pretty arpeggios and synth flourishes dance in a mesmerising array of technicolour sunshine beams. Percussion doesn't make any kind of an appearance yet because it's not necessary. We're watching (or listening) to the opening credits, as though we're watching an old-timey flick or an art-house film, setting the hazy, dreamlike tone, to be carried, morphed and deconstructed over the course of this lovely record.

'We're Engineers of Reality' indeed carries the technicolour torch, but immediately kicks things up a rhythmic notch with a light and punchy mechanistic beat, dutifully pounding under a warm synth pad blanket of bliss. 'Night Sky & Gentle Thermals' on the other hand cools things off by yanking the beat away in favour of the progressive key sequences introduced on 'Transitions'. The record has an interesting and rather enjoyable-to-listen-to sequencing methodology in knowing when to party and when to rejoice in more relaxing moods. A smart arrangement of tonal motley.

Indeed one could be forgiven for interpreting a narrative in not just the music, but the titles themselves and how they figure into the cycle of the earth turning, as the sharp, almost percussive stabbing notes of 'Creatures that Fly at Dusk' careen into our hearing, complete with reverberated squeaks emulating batsong. Whereas 'Stillness & Transcendence' (exactly that) warbles wonderfully and shifts diligently in equal measure. It's stunning centrepiece tracks like this that give life to the synthetic, and elevate electronic records to organic heights. No less than anyone would expect from a Fields of Few project at this point.

But what if a field didn't have a few... whatever the implicit noun is. What if it was empty? A-and we were treated to scenes from it? Well the title 'Scenes from an Empty Field' would imply a stark and minimal affair would it not? Well maybe in your head, but what we have here is fair from bare-bones. Bigger beats than we heard earlier, soaked in icy reverb evocative of the chilly corners of the last record anchor an assertive synth passage which in turn, offers up warmer vibes. It's a miracle the track doesn't melt. Followed by the less zanily-titled yet zanier offering of 'Satellites'. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the percussion, this is an outright progressive dance number, despite the shorter running time, a whole lot of complexity is baked into the composition to engender a tight and engaging listening experience.

Before the final curtain, we get 'Fading Strands of Light'. As ever, bonus points are awarded for making the music sound like the title. Or the other way around, who knows. Either way, it's a calm, reflective portion of Nocturnal Summer Drift and it winds things down nicely and prettily before the closer 'Drift' uhh.. drifts into view. It's an indescribably cool-sounding study of how to achieve a sense of forward momentum without so much as a 'mmm-tsss mmm-tsss mmm-tsss'. Otherworldly synths and gorgeous cascading piano detours coalesce into a wonderful piece of earcandy. Saving the best for last shows remarkable restraint and respect for the craft in a society where instant gratification is vital. Though Gilbert kind of cheats by making every last track on Nocturnal Summer Drift an out and out banger.