FIELD MEDIC
GROW YOUR HAIR LONG IF YOU'RE WANTING TO SEE (...) (RUN FOR COVER)
Eco Mix Color LP. Field Medic's latest album doesn't waste any time getting to what feels like a mission statement for the record with the first lines "I want to fall off the face of the earth and probably die" on opener "Always Emptiness." The longtime songwriting project of Kevin Patrick Sullivan - Mr.
Field himself, the bay-area native who finds himself living in LA these days - has always had moments of melodrama like this, but his latest album grow your hair long if you're wanting to see something that you can change feels as emotionally charged and poetically devastating as anything he's ever given us.
Sullivan has been turning turmoil into beautiful music for almost 10 years as Field Medic.
The project that had origins in busking San Francisco streets has blossomed into a full-time touring act with a few TikTok viral moments.
2018's full-length Fade Into the Dawn and the pandemic-era mixtape/album hybrid Floral Prince both offered a glimpse into how Sullivan's songwriting has evolved since his earliest songs, but his talent for painting unique folk-music with influence from lo-fi indie, twangy alt-country and impromptu soundcloud rap reaches new heights on grow your hair long_, a deeply personal record about publicly reckoning with private pain.
The record feels like it has a few different personalities. The boombox drum-beat backing in lead single "I had a dream that you died" recalls Field favorites like "henna tattoo" and "POWERFUL LOVE," packed to the brim synthy choruses and saccharine, caption-ready lyrics about whales and chia pets and existential dread.
But there's also new a newfound emphasis on production on songs like the haunting "stained glass" and "miracle/marigold," both brought to life with a dusty, Nashville-esque sound by producer Gabe Goodman (but have no fear, even with some new studio-level quality, we still get a bladee reference in the latter song).
Even with a range of sounds, grow your hair long if you're wanting to see something that you can change feels tied into one cohesive piece by Kevin's singular, unique artistic vision - one that has provided us with the best Field Medic record to date with no end in sight.