Field Music performing at Rough Trade East, London (Photo: Alberto Pezzali for Live4ever Media)
Field Music have shared Do You Read Me? ahead of the release of their new album Making A New World this Friday.
A concept record on post-World War One Britain, Making A New World was sparked by a project the band embarked on in 2019 with the Imperial War Museum. “I found myself looking at the history of sanitary pads,” David Brewis explained.
“It turns out the modern design was developed from a wartime surgical dressing. The advertising hasn’t changed much in a hundred years i.e. Hey Ladies! Let’s not mention it too loudly but here is the perfect product to keep you feeling normal WHILE THE DISGUSTING THING HAPPENS.”
“It’s a kind of madness that a monthly occurrence for billions of women – something absolutely necessary for the survival of humanity – is seen as shameful or dirty – and is taxed MORE than razor blades?!”
“I kept asking myself, is it okay to write this? But I think confronting my own embarrassment is a pretty fundamental part of what the song is about.”