By Abigail Clyne
Brooklyn collective Field Guides’ newest single “Lucky Star in the A.M.” is a sparkling musical meditation. The folk pop track is the band’s second single in the lead up to the release of their album, This Is Just A Place, out September 27. Written in the wake of a breakup, singer/songwriter Benedict Kupstas uses percussive rhythm and powerful vocals to paint a picture of a relationship on the rocks, singing “We were all waiting for some change in the season.” Kupstas’ invocation of Nabokov’s novel, Pale Fire, paired with his reference of the Chinatown bus to Boston, the title and chorus of the track, artfully invokes high culture against the pedestrian. The closing line “all the happenstances have been adding up apocalyptic” relays the need to filter our experiences through the lens of the world, the turmoil of our current times.
Alena Spanger, of Tiny Hazard, provides a beautiful female counter to Kupstas’ baritone in the chorus. The expansive instrumentation and the tempo of the single feels like watching the world world go by while aboard mass transit–the track, like a good bus ride, is a trip well spent.