Jump to content

Field Songs (William Elliott Whitmore album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Field Songs
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 12, 2011 (2011-07-12)
StudioFlat Black Studios, Iowa[1]
Genre
Length34:08
LabelAnti
William Elliott Whitmore chronology
Animals in the Dark
(2009)
Field Songs
(2011)
Radium Death
(2015)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[3]
Metacritic83/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The A.V. ClubB[6]
Blurt6/10[7]
Paste7.9/10[8]
Pitchfork7.5/10[2]
PopMatters8/10[9]

Field Songs is the fifth studio album by American country singer William Elliott Whitmore. It was released on July 12, 2011 by Anti-.[10]

Critical reception

[edit]

Field Songs was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 83 based on 11 reviews.[4] Aggregate website AnyDecentMusic? gave the release a 7.5 out of 10 based on a critical consensus of 9 reviews.[3]

In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer Thom Jurek wrote: "By using numerous historical and societal references in these songs as signifiers, and small actions that resulted in large changes, Field Songs is 21st century folk music in the literal sense because it is linked to folk's tradition of social conscience across racial and class barriers>"[5] At The A.V. Club, Jason Heller noted that Whitmore's voice is "an increasingly formidable piece of weaponry", going on to say "accompanied by the chirping of crickets or birds, each song reins in Whitmore's craggy, righteous howl, calming it with gentle strums and the weary plucking of acoustic guitar and banjo."[6] Writing for Delusions of Adequacy, Jenn O'Donnell explained: "Field Songs is as simple and straightforward as a folk album could ever be. Simple banjo and guitar with the slightest amount of percussion, a voice, and something to say is all Whitmore needs to give his audience goose bumps or tears."[11]

Track listing

[edit]
Field Songs track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Bury Your Burdens in the Ground"5:13
2."Field Song"3:43
3."Don't Need It"3:33
4."Everything Gets Gone"4:15
5."Let's Don Something Impossible"3:20
6."Get There from Here"3:56
7."We'll Carry On"4:03
8."Not Feeling Any Pain"6:02
iTunes Deluxe edition[12]
No.TitleLength
9."From the Cellar Door to the Gallows"3:12
10."Midnight"3:24
11."Lift My Jug"3:45
12."The Chariot"3:28

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Field Songs
Chart (2011) Peak
position
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[13] 24
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[14] 24

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Williams, Kent (July 29, 2011). "Little Village Mag Review". Little Village Mag. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Petrusich, Amanda (August 2, 2011). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "AnyDecentMusic? Review". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Heller, Jason (July 12, 2011). "The A.V. Club Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  7. ^ Zimmermann, Lee (July 27, 2011). "Blurt Magazine Review". Blurt. Archived from the original on August 8, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Fletcher, Alexandra (July 12, 2011). "Paste Magazine Review". Paste. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  9. ^ Horowitz, Steven (July 24, 2011). "PopMatters Review". PopMatters. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  10. ^ "William Elliott Whitmore's 'Field Songs' Celebrate Farmers". NPR.org. July 25, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  11. ^ O'Donnell, Jenn (August 1, 2011). "Delusion of Adequacy Review". Adequacy.net. Archived from the original on March 4, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ "Field Songs (Deluxe Edition) by William Elliott Whitmore". Apple Music. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "William Elliott Whitmore Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  14. ^ "William Elliott Whitmore Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
[edit]