“Field Guide creates a chimerical dreamlike soundscape, brought to life by his soft-spoken lyricalimaginings.”–Under the Radar“With tender instrumentals and intimate vocals, [Field Guide] is sure to pull at your heartstrings...he hastruly cemented asignature sound.”–Indie 88
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Field Guide(aka Dylan MacDonald)is a weaver of worlds.Built around hisinvitingvoice and wrapped inwarm textures, his self-titled sophomore full-lengthbuilds his most engaging world yet.It lives in a placebetween darkness and hopefulness withunshakeablemelodiesat its heart.“Melody is what makes wordsfall out of my mouth. It’s disarming. When I find a melody that represents my internal world, I drop myguard. I allow the words to appear out of thin air without judgement. A lot of these songs came to life thatway. I wasn’t trying to make anything, but the songs became a home for words that I wasn’t yet ready towrite on the page,”MacDonald says.
The past few years haven’t allowed for much escape from our interior worlds. There’s been a lot to movethrough, and many things can be true at once.This album lives at the sometimes-tense intersection ofthose truths–loving someone dearly whilebeing pulled toward something new, feeling joy in themelancholy,agratitude for deep friendship and an uncertainty of one’s place in it.
The album is also alive with thepeople and places that surrounded its creation. Vocals and acousticguitars were recorded near Riding Mountain National Park in a woodstove-heated cabin during one of Manitoba’s coldest winters in years. Bass and drums were tracked at Breakglass Studios in Montreal,a room that already felt familiar fromfalling in love withthe recordsof tour-mate Leif Vollebekk.Finalover dubbing took place at Monarch Studios in Vancouver surrounded by trusted engineers and friends.And constantinspiration was foundinhis circle ofWinnipegcreators working away on their own projects.Like The Big Pink house–Boy Golden,Slow Spirit,Roman Clarke, Kris Ulrich and others dropped in on each other to share demos and oftenlend their sounds to each other’s albums.
Beyond his hometown, Field Guide hashad the opportunity to meet some heroes and new friends. He’ssupported Leif Vollebekk, Bahamas, SYML, Wild Rivers, JP Saxe and Penny & Sparrow on their tours this year. He’s built a legion of fans online and on the road.So,while this is a solo album that invites thelistener inside Field Guide’s inner monologue world, it really is meantto be lived in together.“These arethe truest, rawest songs that I’ve ever written. I’ve never felt so sure about something I’ve made before.And now, it’s yours.”