You Tell Me is a collaboration between
Field Music's
Peter Brewis and
Admiral Fallow's
Sarah Hayes that has all the chamber pop richness of the former's band, but adds a tenderness and simplicity that help make their debut album something
Field Music-ish but different enough to stand on its own. Chalk much of that up to
Hayes' agile vocals and introspective songwriting, but also give some credit for stretching a bit beyond his usual sound.
Hayes' vocals and songs where she takes lead, like the orchestral ballad "Foreign Parts" or the pastoral "Springburn," conjure up
Kirsty MacColl comparisons. Other tracks, like the complicated and pretty "Clarion Call," call to mind
Sam Phillips or
Aimee Mann. Like those songwriters, she's not content to just stick to tried-and-true subject matter or rote melodies, and in
Brewis she's found the perfect partner to help bring her songs fully to life. The
Brewis-led songs on the album hew fairly closely to the
Field Music template, especially the perky "Water Cooler," but with a more relaxed feel and the added bonus of
Hayes singing backgrounds and harmonies. The tracks like "No Hurry" and "Invisible Ink," where the duo mesh their styles seamlessly, are the most interesting on the album, and the moments where it truly sounds like a band instead of a couple of very talented musicians backing each other. Not that there's anything wrong with that kind of approach, especially when it yields the type of songs that fill the album. It will be interesting to see if
You Tell Me is the start of something long-running or just a one-off. However it turns out, the album works as another assurance in favor of the ongoing genius of
Peter Brewis, and as an impressive introduction to the lovely music of
Sarah Hayes.