THE COLOUR FIELD Virgins And Philistines (Chrysalis)

Like his old colleague Jerry Dammers of Special AKA, Terry Hall refines their shared ska origins a bit more each time out. Now Hall’s the principal in the Colour Field, a group which recalls the Specials’ black & white twin tones by layering jazzflow melodies and vocals over what are essentially folk songs, structurally speaking. But the Colour Field come across loud & bracing, even when they’re using acoustic instruments. Their 10 original songs exhibit many layers of thoughtful-English-boyof-the-’80s anxieties over our current dilemmas, while the two covers (the Roches’ “Hammond Song” and ? And The Mysterians’ “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby”) are so leftfield-inspired, I am, too. Good stuff, “just like a beatnik love affair.” R.R.