Winnipeg's Field Guide Releases New Track 'You Could Be Free'

Field Guide's Dylan MacDonald recently announced his sophomore eponymous album, out October 28th via Birthday Cake Records. Today, we release the new single, "You Could Be Free," a gentle reminder, set to the rhythm of a heartbeat.

As Dylan explains, "It's tough to see your own struggles affect someone you love-watching them take on your heaviness can really bring on a feeling of guilt. When I wrote this I was feeling a need to be pushed out of the dark place that I was in, I felt myself thinking 'don't accept this from me.'

The album is also alive with the people and places that surrounded its creation. Vocals and acoustic guitars were recorded near Riding Mountain National Park in a woodstove-heated cabin during one of Manitoba's coldest winters in years. Bass and drums were tracked at Breakglass Studios in Montreal, a room that already felt familiar from falling in love with the records of tour-mate Leif Vollebekk.

Final overdubbing took place at Monarch Studios in Vancouver surrounded by trusted engineers and friends. And constant inspiration was found in his circle of Winnipeg creators working away on their own projects. Like The Big Pink house-Boy Golden, Slow Spirit, Roman Clarke, Kris Ulrich and others dropped in on each other to share demos and often lend their sounds to each other's albums.

Beyond his hometown, Field Guide has had the opportunity to meet some heroes and new friends. He's supported Leif Vollebekk, Bahamas, SYML, Wild Rivers, JP Saxe and Penny & Sparrow on their tours this year. He's built a legion of fans online and on the road. So, while this is a solo album that invites the listener inside Field Guide's inner monologue world, it really is meant to be lived in together.

"I made these songs into a world for me to live in," says Dylan. "They are dark and hopeful and have helped me to figure some things out. For the past couple of years I've maintained a pretty consistent habit of journaling. Putting words on paper is difficult and I've gained a new respect for those who are able to do so in a seemingly effortless fashion.

Melody is what makes words fall out of my mouth. It's disarming. When I find a melody that represents my internal world, I drop my guard. I allow the words to appear out of thin air without judgement. A lot of these songs came to life that way. I wasn't trying to make anything, but the songs became a home for words that I wasn't yet ready to write on the page.

The past few years haven't allowed for much running or escape from our interior worlds. There's been a lot to move through, and many things can be true at once. Being in love while finding connection with another. Feeling joy in the melancholy. A gratitude for deep friendship and an uncertainty of one's place in it. And now, the mix of discomfort, excitement and pride in sharing this album. These are the truest, rawest songs that I've ever written. I've never felt so sure about something I've made before. And now, it's yours.

Listen to the new single here:

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