The Field Mice - Skywriting
Artist: The Field Mice
Author: Sarah
Date: 05/08/2025
Listen: Youtube
Indiepop isn't typically known for being a genre that takes a lot of risks, so it's always exciting to see a band try to do something different for a change. Thus, Skywriting has been my favorite Field Mice album for quite a while. That being said, I do think it can be a bit overstated (even by me) how far out of the ordinary this album falls. I tend to think of it as having three types of song: the experiments ("Triangle" and "Humblebee"), the straightforward twee pop ("Canada" and "Clearer"), and the prototypes of where they'd be going next ("It Isn't Forever" and "Clearer").
It's understandable that one would think of this album as being mostly experimental, as the two experiments take up nearly half its run-time. And it's similarly understandable that the album is considered their worst, because the experiments aren't very good. "Triangle" isn't quite as far out there as its reputation (after all, Snowball's "Let's Kiss and Make Up" is a dance track too), but the incessant attempt at making Wratten's "ahh-ahhh"s a hook fails to catch any attention. "Humblebee", of course, is a sound collage which is mildly interesting for the shock value on first listen, and then fairly annoying every time thereafter. That being said, I cannot imagine a single other twee band who would try to push their boundaries that far, and I've always given credit to the Field Mice for that.
Luckily for the more conventionally minded, the other four songs do, in fact, number among the Field Mice's best work. The straightforward songs are faster and fuller than anything else they've done to this point, and in fact, "Canada" might have my all-time favorite jangle pop sound. The synthesized horns on "Clearer" are also a nice touch, which I wish they'd done a bit more with in their later work.
The other two are pretty hard for me to talk about actually. As I relisten to it, "It Isn't Forever" feels like maybe it's the successful version of what "Triangle" was supposed to be? It doesn't really feel like you can dance to it, but it also doesn't feel like twee pop anymore either (there's not really a melody, it's basically just three or four lines repeated for six minutes, etc). I actually don't have any idea why it works for me, but it does, even if they'd later improve on it with "Missing the Moon". As for "Below the Stars", it could slot in well on For Keeps, with how the tempos are slowed way down, how cold and yet bright (much like a fall evening under the stars) it sounds, and little flourishes like the (I think) backwards guitars.
Basically, Skywriting probably shouldn't be anyone's first Field Mice album. But at the same time, it really shouldn't be the only one you can't get your hands on! Once you've got a bit of experience with Snowball and the early singles under your belt, you might want to give it a try. Love it or hate it, I guarantee you're not going to hear anything else like it in all of indiepop.