COMMONTIME is the new record from Field Music, the first album from Sunderland siblings Peter and David Brewis since 2012’s Plumb.

Written and recorded in spontaneous bursts over six months in their studio, Commontime is built around the brothers playing, writing and singing together again after four years of solo works, collaborations and soundtracks.

‘As much fun as we might have had on our own or collaborating, we missed just spending time in the studio, the two of us, trying things out together,’ explains David.

However, the album also features a wider array of players, including original Field Music keyboardist Andrew Moore, Peter’s wife Jennie Brewis and new member of the live band Liz Corney on vocals, along with a panoply of strings and brass.

The space that Field Music vacated still appears to be empty. No one else really does what Field Music do: the interweaving vocals, the rhythmic gear changes, the slightly off-chords, the obvious lack of bombast, the songs which end abruptly or merge into others. And while these idiosyncrasies remain, Commontime shows off the brothers’ unashamed love of choruses and classic pop and rock in a way they’ve only hinted at before.

l See Field Music at Exeter Phoenix tonight (Thursday).