7/10

Following straight on from their heavily-praised 2018 LP 'Open Here', Field Music originally composed this collection at the start of last year as a commission for the Imperial War Museum, performing them throughout the historical space. But it wasn't long before the band's Peter and David Brewis felt proud of them enough to release them as a concept record. Essentially viewing the last century through the lens of the First World War, 'Making A New World' aims to flip its emotional heart between the grievances of war and the largely peaceful world that that conflict resulted in.

Unlike most concept releases we have heard in recent times, 'Making A New World' rarely keeps its story married to the lyrics. Instead the band look to create industrial and emotionally-charged imagery with their music, delivering an expansive collection that mixes up short burst of instrumental ambience and their usual flair for indie-pop delights. With 19-tracks and just a 42-minute run time, many of the shorter additions do add some context to the general feel of the release but without the visual accompaniment that these tracks were originally written for, you do feel you are only getting part of the full performance.

Nevertheless, 'Making A New World' still stands up as a broad and captivating release that showcases the group's abstract aesthetic in a guise we rarely see from them. It may not be their most fluid and consistent release of the last few years, but still manages to throw up plenty to enjoy throughout.