Recently I have been having specific pangs of sensory memories that teleport me back to distinct moments in time, most notably, previous autumns. It is one of those times of year when we are at the tail end of a season and everything will soon be in flux as we dovetail into cuffing season, when a vague smokey smell occupies the air, and all the uncarpeted floors in your house get chilly.
And what better way to celebrate this transitional period than with a perfectly languorous, melodic folk ballad? Field Division are an Iowa-based duo comprised of musicians Evelyn Taylor and Nicholas Frampton, and they have self-designated their genre as “Folkwave,” which is cool as shit and so accurate. As Taylor’s lilting voice repeats a central refrain over shimmering, echoing guitar, we are treated to pristine, bucolic scenes in what I can hardly believe is a real place on earth. I have never drooled over a canoe before. Perhaps I need to visit Iowa.
“Of Lives We’ve Never Known” is off the band’s aptly titled Reverie State EP, which you can order now. Who knows, perhaps in a year’s time, the record will make you remember Fall 2015 in all of its auburn glory.