Funny Looking Angels

国民的バンドとなったエディターズのフロントマンのトム・スミス、そして全英No.1バンド、レイザーライトの元ドラマー兼シンガーソングライターで現在はアイ・アム・アロウズのフロントマン、そして2011年のNANO MUGEN FESで来日したウィー・アー・サイエンティスツのドラマーとしても活躍するアンディ・バロウズが奇跡のコラボレーション・クリスマス・アルバムをリリース！普段からお互いの家を訪れる程仲良しだという二人。二人ともクリスマス・ソングが好きという共通点もあり意気投合、本作が完成した！本作はオリジナル曲に加え、ヤズーからデルタまで多岐にわたるアーティストのカバーを収録。また、期待のスウェーデン人女性シンガー、アグネス・オベルがクリスマスの定番曲「The Christmas Song」でゲスト参加し、トムとの美しいデュエットを聴かせてくれる。ストリングスやジングル・ベルを取り入れ、クリスマスや冬をモチーフにした伝統のクリスマス・ソングのスタイルを踏襲しながらも、現代UKの誇る稀代のシンガーソングライター2人によって、タイムレスでロマンティックな極上ポップ・チューンに仕上がっている。ファンならずとも手元に置いておきたい絶品アルバムの登場だ！

Christmas records from British indie-rock front-men are like buses. You wait ages for one to arrive, and then two come along at once. Released just a week after Ash's Tim Wheeler's festive love-in with girlfriend Emmy The Great, Editors lead singer Tom Smith and former Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows have joined forces on Funny Looking Angels, an effort to ‘conjure images of friends coming home from the pub and reflective Winter evenings.' Despite their similar backgrounds, the two records couldn't be more different. While Wheeler's This Is Christmas was a celebratory, feel-good and mostly original affair, the pair's debut is a covers-heavy listen drenched in the kind of melancholy that Smith's band has become renowned for. His gloom-laden tones are the perfect foil for the mournful re-working of Black's "Wonderful Life," one of three pop classics featured that are more wintry than anything particularly Christmassy, the slow-burning fusion of triumphant strings, chiming sleigh bells and twinkling music boxes on "This Ain't New Jersey," (one of five original compositions) and the stately rendition of the much-loved carol, "In The Bleak Midwinter," while they also fit perfectly with Danish folk singer-songwriter Agnes Obel's hushed vocals on the stripped-back "The Christmas Song" duet. However, counterbalancing the slightly frosty vibes, Burrows, now the lead vocalist in I Am Arrows, also provides the record with some much-needed warmth, whether it's the Badly Drawn Boy-esque indie-pop of "As The Snowflakes Fall," the stomping falsetto-led interpretation of "Only You," presumably here due to the Flying Pickets' a cappella Christmas number one than the Yazoo original, or the gorgeously understated retooling of "On And On," previously a minor Britpop hit for Longpigs, now an evocative torch song lent a nostalgic yuletide air thanks to its timeless acoustic/brass arrangement. What could have been a throwaway side project has instead turned out to be a quietly charming and affectionate labour of love which hopefully won't be the last collaboration between the two. ~ Jon O'Brien|

Christmas records from British indie rock frontmen are like buses. You wait ages for one to arrive, and then two come along at once. Released just a week after Ash's Tim Wheeler's festive love-in with girlfriend Emmy the Great, Editors lead singer Tom Smith and former Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows have joined forces on Funny Looking Angels, an effort to "conjure images of friends coming home from the pub and reflective winter evenings." Despite their similar backgrounds, the two records couldn't be more different. While Wheeler's This Is Christmas was a celebratory, feel-good, and mostly original affair, this pair's debut is a covers-heavy listen drenched in the kind of melancholy that Smith's band has become renowned for. His gloom-laden tones are the perfect foil for the mournful reworking of Black's "Wonderful Life," one of three pop classics featured that are more wintry than anything particularly Christmassy, the slow-burning fusion of triumphant strings, chiming sleigh bells, and twinkling music boxes on "This Ain't New Jersey" (one of five original compositions), and the stately rendition of the much-loved carol "In the Bleak Midwinter," while they also fit perfectly with Danish folk singer/songwriter Agnes Obel's hushed vocals on the stripped-back "The Christmas Song" duet. However, counterbalancing the slightly frosty vibes, Burrows, now the lead vocalist in I Am Arrows, also provides the record with some much-needed warmth, whether it's the Badly Drawn Boy-esque indie pop of "As the Snowflakes Fall," the stomping falsetto-led interpretation of "Only You," presumably here due to the Flying Pickets' a cappella Christmas number one than the Yazoo original, or the gorgeously understated retooling of "On and On," previously a minor Britpop hit for Longpigs, now an evocative torch song lent a nostalgic yuletide air thanks to its timeless acoustic/brass arrangement. What could have been a throwaway side project has instead turned out to be a quietly charming and affectionate labor of love that hopefully won't be the last collaboration between the two. ~ Jon O'Brien

昔からの仲良しだというトム・スミス(エディターズ)とアンディ・バロウズ(元レイザーライト)がユニットを結成。書き下ろし4曲を含む10曲入りのこの初作は、冬をテーマに作られた。アグネス・オベル参加のクリスマス曲やヤズー“Only You"のカヴァーなど、ピアノやストリングス、管楽器をふんだんに使用したゴージャスなナンバー揃いで、そのタイムレスな雰囲気はラスト・シャドウ・オブ・パペッツを彷彿とさせる。
bounce (C)白神篤史