IT IS an accepted fact that having a child changes the way you see the world.

But that feeling is accentuated when you’re a musician whose job involves taking life experiences and turning them into art.

Peter and David Brewis of Field Music both became fathers before the release of their fifth album, Commontime, and seeing them turn into children with their own mannerisms and opinions partly inspired new record Open Here (out last month).

“Now our offspring are little people rather than just babies,” says Peter ahead of Field Music’s Komedia gig, their first “proper show in a while”.

“Commontime was probably just whinging about us being tired all the time, whereas this album is us talking about our little mates and how they have affected our view of world events.”

One standout example of this is the last song on the album, Find A Way To Keep Me, which tells a fictional story about a child at risk of being separated from his or her parents.

The track is a good example of Field Music’s lyrical approach to Open Here – exploring global themes such as the refugee crisis through a more personal lens.

“You think, ‘that could be my kid trying to get out of a war zone,” says Peter of the song. “Having a child means you see things in a more intense way.”

Field Music have always been indie darlings, winning approval from the alternative music media but also the mainstream press. Reviews were favourable for Open Here.

“I pretend that I don’t care [about critical reaction] but when the album comes out I realise I really do care what people think,” says Peter.

“Even when the feedback is positive it makes you reflect, because you realise you can’t do that same thing that people liked again.”

Peter describes himself and David as “under-confident people in some respects”, adding that it’s nice to have the occasional self-esteem boost of a glowing report.

When he discusses the lyrical aims of Open Here, it seems like some of Peter’s lack of self-belief – or maybe just modesty – comes out. But, in reality, he’s just presenting a realistic assessment of any indie band’s capacity to really make a change in society.

“We have to remember our music doesn’t reach that many people, relatively,” he says. “The people that it does reach might have similar views to ours, and the people who don’t have those views...are they going to be persuaded by a song by Field Music? Not frigging likely.

“The best way to go about it is to look ourselves in the mirror and talk about how these global developments affect us directly.”

As such, Open Here is kind of political but also wary of being preachy, analysing the brothers’ reaction to affairs rather than tackling them head on.

Checking The Message, for instance, is about the odd experience of discovering momentous news – Trump’s victory, specifically – via a social media news feed.

“You get news in a barrage when it comes in that way,” says Peter. “I thought my friends in the US were being negative when they said Trump would get in, so I was shocked when I saw he had.

“Waiting for that announcement on Whatsapp or Twitter or whatever makes it even stranger.” Cameraman, meanwhile, is told from the perspective of somebody looking at our relatively comfortable urban life from the outside.

“It’s about examining this slightly Utopian world that we get to live in from a position of someone who doesn’t have that privilege,” Peter says.

“To them, all this must seem like another planet, a mad dream. I can’t imagine a seven-year-old in Syria thinks somewhere like Brighton is privileged, they’d just think ‘I’d love to live somewhere where my brothers aren’t being shot and I had something to eat’.

“We all have to think about our privilege. We have high expectations of life.”

Peter is wary of the echo chamber effect of living around like-minded people. It’s a topic he’s been mulling over ever since 61 per cent of voters in his native Sunderland declared there preference to leave the EU (he was a remainer).

“We need to engage with people rather than thinking everyone who voted the opposite way to you wasn’t thinking right.”

It seems a transitional time for Sunderland at the moment with those on both sides of the EU debate waiting to see how the vote will affect one of the poorest regions of the UK.

There are other signs of change, too. Field Music’s humble artistic base was recently demolished to make way for student flats. Rather than see this as an unhealthy development, Peter is happy to roll with the times. “I’m fine with that,” he says. “If regeneration goes hand in hand with gentrification, I’ll take a bit of gentrification.”

After six albums, it’s going to take more than a change of studio to halt Field Music’s progression. As they look ahead to a UK tour off the back of a well-received album, the duo seem in a good place.

“It feels like the end of a chapter but we’re looking forward to moving on to new places and new things,” says Peter.