When Sunderland, U.K.’s Field Music broke up in 2007, it came as a surprise to the band’s fans. Just months before, the group released their best record to date, the all-things-pop mishmash of Tones Of Town, which had been very well received by fans and critics alike. So why decide to disband when things were going so well? A post on the band’s Myspace site by member David Brewis explained, “In essence, Field Music is just the name of a company, whose directors happens to be me, Peter and Andy — there doesn't seem to be any reason why Field Music the company can't produce and release records that aren't necessarily by Field Music the band. And we're hoping that Field Music the company can be much more productive than Field Music the band ever managed to be.”

Following up on his promise to be more productive, Brewis begins 2008 with a release more decisively and succinctly pop, more experimental in its accompanying sounds and, simply put, better than anything the collective of Field Music ever released during their career as a band. Sea from Shore, credited to Brewis’s solo moniker, School of Language, opens with bouncing stereo vocalizations on the first of the four parts to “Rockist.” That vocal sample provides both a quick introduction to the pounding pop found throughout the album and a steady backbone on which the rest of the album’s songs can build (and stretch and twist…). Throw in a couple gems such as the danceable chugalug of “Poor Boy” and the quiet plod of “Ships,” and the listener is left with an album of immaculate indie rock. The latter track is the closest the disc gets to a true solo outing, providing a glimpse at how Brewis might perform the songs on the record on his current solo tour. However the songs end up translating live, Sea from Shore is a convincing indication that the decision to split up Field Music was the right one.