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Coastal was conceived as a prelude to The Field Mice's first full-length LP, For Keeps; it brought together tracks from the assortment of 7" singles, 10" albums and 12" EPs that the band had released on Sarah Records to date, from the tender, stripped-down intimacy (just a bass guitar, a piano, and a gently brushed guitar) of The Last Letter from their debut EP, via the sonic overload of follow-up Sensitive (only 8 tracks in the studio, and 5 of them are filled with guitars) and it's wistful reverse When Morning Comes To Town, to the storm of metallic noise that provides the climax to Isn’t Forever - taking in, on the way, the skeletal hypnotic dance music of Let’s Kiss And Make Up (later covered by St Etienne), the relentlessly intensifying ache and heartbreak of So Said Kay, and the soaring, hook-laden declaration of love that is If You Need Someone: “if you need someone to tell you everything’s going to be all right, I can do that...”

The Field Mice began as a duo of Bobby Wratten (vocals, guitar) and Michael Hiscock (bass), old schoolfriends from south London. Harvey Williams (aka Another Sunny Day) joined on additional guitar and by the time of their final recordings for Sarah Records they were a 5-piece, with Mark Dobson playing drums and Anne Mari Davies on vocals, keyboards and guitars.