Josie Field

Josie Field makes bold sonic moves with ‘1984’

Two albums into her career, and Josie Field has earned a name for herself as crafting folk-pop music whose intense and often personal lyrics speak directly to the hearts of music fans throughout the country.

The multiple South African Music Award-nominated singer and songwriter doesn’t veer dramatically out of her now signature creative style on her third solo album ‘1984’. But, on her March 2011 release, Field has followed a natural path to add in material that’s more ballsy than anything else she has done and, at times, quite unashamedly, commercial.

“It’s been a revelation for me to write material that’s straight-up radio friendly and not strictly bound to the personal experiences that have driven most of my lyric writing in the past,” Field says of a song like “Right Now” – her most pop song yet.

Producer Kevin Leicher, operating out of his Newtown Dark Star Studio, Leicher helmed Field’s debut, 2006’s “Mercury” and her follow-up, “Leyland” (2008). On ‘1984’ he’s credited as a co-composer, with Field, of the music on the album - with Field handling all lyrics.

“Goodbye”, is a duet with Arno Carstens, a keenly felt emotional ballad that’s likely to cement a creative relationship between the two artists that will have fans of both enraptured.

Still, make no mistake – ‘1984’ is very much a Josie Field album, and, as early reaction confirms, is hand down her best and most diverse record yet.

Among the highlight tracks are “Sunshine” and “Soul Searching” which see Field’s in a captivating, soulful mood – along with the light rock first single “Man is a Fire”, which Field chose “on gut feel because it kind of sums up the whole album and is the right bridge to ‘Leyland’”. Others in the rock vein on the new album include the energetic “Power” and the rockabilly-suffused “Dark Alley”. And for those fans who adore Field for her thoughtful, memorable lyric ability and folk-rooted material, songs like the elegant, ukulele-propelled “Everything Is As It Should Be” will be a thrill – as will the likes of “Long Way To Fall’, “Only A Dog” and “Time”.

Field is intending to support the release of ‘1984’ (named for the year of her birth, not the George Orwell book which she has yet to read) with as many live shows as possible – and has plans for taking the material to new audiences. “Like any career, growth is an essential ingredient,” she says simply.

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For more information contact:
Email: Josie@josiefield.co.za