By: David Schultz

The brainchild of singer and lead guitarist Billy Schuh, The Foundry Field Recordings derive their mellow, industrial sound not, as might be expected, from the underbelly of a teeming metropolis but rather from Columbia, Missouri. Their grandiose full length album, prompts/miscues, centers on the premise of an apocalyptic daydream, examining life in the absence of mundane daily details. Full of dreamy songs about modern conflicts that bring about the "casualty of war," Schuh, in an ethereal near-feminine voice, mourns the loss of identity and individuality in a post-industrialist society. Although it's a theme that's been extensively explored by others over the last few decades, there's still room for exploration.

Draping symphonic guitars and lush production around leisurely paced songs, The Foundry imbues prompts/miscues with the same cold war imagery found in Douglas Coupland novels. Metaphors aplenty: there's some ambitious songwriting afoot here. Mainly, Schuh expresses hope and joy in the face of dire circumstances; "Warning Raids Over Kiev" containing a seemingly post-Columbine joy over the cleansing effects of seeing your city destroyed. While Schuh clearly has a gift for songwriting, at times his imagery loses its subtlety, becoming the heavy-handed musings of a withdrawn, disaffected teenager glumly writing in their journal: "Broken Strings" contains an abundance of tortured modern technology metaphors to describe the loneliness of a broken heart; and in case anyone missed the underlying themes, the album's untitled final track contains air raid sirens and the wordless chattering of a computer keyboard.

prompts/miscues isn't all navel-gazing reflections upon the soul-crushing decline of society; there's some upbeat musings on the subject too. Powered by Becky Baxter's bass and Benjamin Hook's synth, "Holding The Pilot, Holding The Fact" echoes The Cure and guitarist Daniel Stegall gets room to roam on "Buried Beneath The Winter Frames." The slick production leaves its ragged edges untouched: the aural mishmash at the start of the album's opener, the two part "Battle Brigades," bookends nicely with the similar tricks closing "Circuits On Board."

For the most part, The Foundry Field Recordings succeed in following through on their premise and have created a relaxed, meditative, introspective album. Rescuing it from the realm of background music, prompts/miscues contains many lush orchestral arrangements with beautiful melodies that provide a nice contrast to the bleak sentiments expressed in the lyrics.

Labels: Foundry Field Recordings