Field Report have been one of the most steadfast contributors to the Wisconsin music scene that birthed Bon Iver. (Head honcho Chris Porterfield played in DeYarmond Edison with Justin Vernon in the years before Vernon’s fateful cabin trip.) The band will return this year with third album Summertime Songs, and lead single “Never Look Back” signifies some subtle but significant changes in their approach. It’s the sort of hearty folk-rock we’ve come to expect from Porterfield, but also, is that a talkbox I hear on the bridge? Like the song says, we must plunge fearlessly into the future. OK, technically, the title does not refer to musical evolution, as Porterfield explains:
“Never Look Back” is about those people we find ourselves inexplicably drawn to and then entangled with. The narrator tries to give this other person the benefit of the doubt, because, hey, something about them was appealing in the beginning. But the constant drama and disappointment leads them to discover that if you can walk away from the car crash, you have to walk away. And never look back. It’s a celebration of self-preservation.
‘Summertime Songs,’ out March 23rd:
The Fat Angel Sings 