Zack Inglis - ​The Field

​Zack Inglis

​The Field
self-released; 2016

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Zach Inglis is a singer/songwriter from Perth, Australia, who recently released The Field. It’s an album as he explains “summarizes me so far; it gives voice to a lot of the ideas and feelings and thoughts about growing up and life.” At only twenty-years old Inglis like many other people that age that make music that seems less about finding empathy and some sort of connection with the listener and more about just focusing on their experiences. I’ve noticed this trend for a while now and it’s often the case that as songwriters get older the songs tend to be less egocentric. Even though Inglis declares the album is all about him his lyrics are quite well written and deal with a lot more than just his feelings. In fact I would argue that his storytelling and lyrics are his biggest strength at this point.

Inglis has some talent but The Field is also far from perfect. The biggest issue with The Field is that the thirteen songs revolve around mostly his vocals and basic minor and major chords with very little variation. I think Inglis could have gotten away with this approach with a five-song EP but thirteen songs deep is a stretch. 

On the plus side the album does have some very well written songs. The first being “My First” which may be the highlight on the album. It starts and mostly stays with a simple four-chord progression. The verse is catchy and his vocal delivery sounds natural with a hint of melancholy and nostalgia. He sings, “Swimming every day. It throws tens of thousands of little spark synapses in this amazing brain. A million of our forever photographs, flooding the floor like iron, like it’s 2012.”

“The Electricity Is Out On My Street” is another solid effort. His vocals are dynamic on this song and I enjoyed the reverb-laced vocal harmonies. ”Where Are We Going To Go?” is a meditative piece with lyrics that avoid clichés and are quite original. He sings, “Me and my baby we’re running from the kids. We had too many babies. This is a medical trap. Pushing us, they’re pushing us. These walls with boxing gloves. And who was that at the diner? In the back of a Cadillac, waving slowly, pulling out and driving motionless.” As the album progresses there are some more highlights including “Secret” and “Honey.”

​I think Inglis’ best work lies ahead of him and the one piece of advice I would give him is to mix it up some more on the guitar. The way he strums his chords feels very similar on every song. It would behoove him to throw in some guitar picking and different strumming styles as well. The Field is a solid effort, which he can build a foundation from.

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