Field Medic Announces New Album 'light is gone 2' and North American Tour
06/28/2023
Today, Los-Angeles based musician Kevin Patrick Sullivan, who performs under the stage name Field Medic announced his latest album light is gone 2, which will be out on 09/01 via Run For Cover Records.
Having released his debut EP ‘Crushed Pennies’ 10 years ago (almost to the day), Sullivan has amassed quite the discography. With five full-length projects and a handful of shorter projects and singles, Sullivan seems to just be getting started with his musical career.
This newest record, light is gone 2, is a spiritual sequel to his 2015 debut album light is gone. This new record brings a sonic shift that begins the Field Medic tonal renaissance.
The record comes fresh on the heels of Sullivan's 2022 album Grow Your Hair Long If You’re Wanting to See Something That You Can Change, and the project itself has been in the works since the 2022 release, “I started recording some of these songs at the same time as the last record.” In explanation for the new sound that Sullivan began exploring in this album, “I was feeling a bit bored of making folk music and was listening to a lot of Trap music, and it inspired me to experiment more with digital recording and different kinds of production.” The album still shared his attention-grabbing hooks and effortlessly-intimate lyricism that makes listeners feel like they're taking a peek into Sullivan’s diary, but instead, he switched the harmonica and acoustic folk elements with 808s and synths, “At the time, I felt like I didn’t really have the skills to make the songs sound the way I wanted them to, so I set them aside,” Sullivan says. “But then this past year I spent more time working on my side project, paper rose haiku, and learning more about production. I started to dive back into the songs, just trying to use new sounds that I wouldn’t normally use, intentionally trying to make them not like acoustic folk songs.”
Taking this shift was something beyond special for Sullivan. This sound change was more than a songwriting exercise for Sullivan; it also helped to open up a whole new sonic toolbox to explore, “I think as the creator it does a service to the songs to make the experience of writing exciting again. When you're having fun doing it, it translates into the songs,” Sullivan explains. “I wanted to make choices where I didn’t have anything else in mind except for me and the things I like.” While the sound may be brand new territory for Sullivan, the record still brings listeners back to Field Medic’s initial LP, light is gone. That album was ground-breaking for Sullivan because it marked a turning point in Sullivan’s abilities with the four-track tape recorder. Now, light is gone 2 is defined by his breakthrough with digital and multi-track recording. His new sound made this shift from his original sound to this newer, more electronic motif, “I’ve always loved Trap music and New Wave music, I used to try and incorporate those with keyboards and beats back in my lofi days, but now I feel like I’ve finally figured those elements out.” In making this newly-electric album, he enlisted the help of the iconic Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie, Tegan and Sara, The Decemberists), who mixed the album remotely from Norway. “I feel like he just really worked his magic,” Sullivan says. “He’s very artistically-minded, so when I would say something like ‘I just want the vocal to feel sort of underwater but not drowning,’ he would really understand that sort of language.”
This musical pairing results in a Field Medic record that is unlike anything among his gargantuan discography. The introspective album is overtaken by synths, steady drum machine pulses, and more. light is gone 2 feels like a full-screen, 3D version of Sullivan’s work- one that manages to approach a whole new sonic territory, all while retaining the essential rawness and intimacy that makes Field Medic’s music so compelling.
The album opens with the single “they all seem so happy,” which pulls a classic bait and switch, opening with gentle acoustics before a rush of 808s and keyboards quickly yanks the listener into a quasi Trap ballad.
The opening single also introduces listeners to the record's lyrical themes, “A lot of these songs are sort of reflections on trying to be a working artist,” Sullivan says. “I started trying to do this when I was 19, and I’m 32 now. There’s always something to be made—more music, a video, a flier, whatever. And I think sometimes I would almost feel like I lost myself as Kevin amongst the character that is Field Medic. A lot of this record is about the isolation and dissociation that comes from focusing all your energy on trying to ‘make it.’ It can feel like a real rat race when you’re in a bad state of mind, but I think this record has really reminded me that there aren’t really any rules in music.”
With songs like his upbeat indie-pop song “TSION” or the swooning new-wave of “iwanthis2last!” are shimmering examples of Sullivan’s willingness to try anything. In contrast, his songs “without you i’d have nothing (& i might even be dead)” and “mass market paperback” seamlessly blends the classic FIeld Medic instrumentalism that fans know and live with fresh production and an inventive use of autotune.
If there’s one thing clear in Field Medic’s work, including his lengthy discography, its that Sullivan has an unbridled enthusiasm for creating, and throughout this newest record, that's an everlasting sense of joy in exploring his new sound and style, “Releasing a lot of music is part of what makes it fun for me,” he says. “I like getting it done and getting it out. I just love to be spontaneous, maybe even a little reckless, but I think there’s a story to be told in songs, and that doesn’t need to be perfect–it needs to capture a moment.” Sullivan’s prolific nature isn’t impatience, it’s instinct, and it’s a necessity for a songwriter who simply loves reinventing his craft. “It’s the one thing I really enjoy…It’s a daily exercise–I think that’s maybe why I don’t worry about much of anything else other than the song itself. I know I’m gonna make a song today, and then I’m gonna do it again tomorrow.”
This new album is a step into a new realm of possibilities for Field Medic as far as the potential his sound has. The record is composed of 9 songs and will be released on 09/01, and is surely an album not to miss!
light is gone 2 track-list:
1. they all seem so happy2. TSION3. you deserve attention4. everything's been going so well5. without you i'd have nothing (& i might even be dead)6. the look on her face like a reoccurring dream7. mass market paperback8. iwantthis2last!9. empty armsHaving just finished his supporting act on the latest leg of the Backseat Lovers’ most recent US tour, he just announced his latest North American Tour with Olivia Barton to support this latest release; check out tour dates below:
Upcoming Shows:
9/12 - San Francisco, CA at The Independent *
9/15 - Vancouver, BC at Fox Cabaret *
9/17 - Seattle, WA at Neumos *
9/18 - Portland, OR at Aladdin Theater *
9/21 - Denver, CO at Marquis Theater *
9/23 - St. Paul, MN at Amsterdam Bar & Grill *
9/24 - Madison, WI at High Noon Saloon *
9/25 - Chicago, IL at Lincoln Hall *
9/27 - Hamtramck, MI at The Sanctuary *
9/28 - Lakewood, OH at Mahall’s *
9/29 - Pittsburgh, PA at Bottlerocket *
9/30 - Philadelphia, PA at First Unitarian Church *
10/2 - New York, NY at Bowery Ballroom *
10/3 - Cambridge, MA at The Sinclair *
10/5 - Washington, DC at The Atlantis *
10/6 - Durham, NC at Motorco Music Hall *
10/7 - Atlanta, GA at The Masquerade *
10/9 - Austin, TX at Parish *
10/10 - Fort Worth, TX at Tulips *
10/12 - Phoenix, AZ at Rebel Lounge
10/13 - San Diego, CA at Quartyard
10/19 - Los Angeles, CA at Teragram Ballroom *
w/ Olivia Barton
