Point Of Go

2010年まで6人組として活躍し2枚のアルバムという功績を残したものの、メンバーの半分がTrophy Wifeを結成するため脱退。残された3人は頭を抱えた。そこに脱退した3人分の役割を一挙に担う一人の新メンバーが加わり、今の体制へと落ち着いたのだ。初心に返ったメンバーはTrophy Wifeと協力しつつレコーディング。そして今回この名作を作り上げた。Fleetwood MacからThe Smiths、Arthur Russellまで強い影響を受けたこのバンド。今作では彼らはクラシックポップをモダンな音色で奏で、かつて70年代や80年代が抱いていた、失われつつあるその何かを感じる作品だ。クラシックポップ好きも、普段はモダンな音楽が好きなあなたも、一度聴いてみてほしい作品である。

Jonquil's third album finds the mixture between Hugo Manuel's smooth, sometimes sweet but not cloying vocals and the peppy, easy grooves of the musicians as a whole coming together in a dollop of something just this side of 1984 or so -- if not exactly Vampire Weekend as an equivalent, then something equal parts Haircut One Hundred, a-ha, and something undeservedly obscure from the Mediterranean around that time. Certainly the sprightly highlife guitar lead on "It's My Part" and the winning, bright brass parts that recur throughout the album are the kinds of things meant to put a smile on the face at the least. Song titles like "Mexico" and "Getaway" may give a feeling of party music for the chillwave generation, but there's more of a sense of cool reserve as much as passion, a carefully constructed pose that slips easily from song to song and thrives because of it. It can be as subtle as percussion breaks below the basic pulse of an arrangement, or a gentle piano solo in an arrangement. The flip side is that Point of Go feels like an immediate pleasure more that one that lingers in the mind, but if some songs breeze by without sticking, other songs like the two-part "Point of Go," split between a calmer and a more energetic section defined by the drumming, stand out. Meanwhile, moments like "This Innocent," Manuel's singing set against gentle keyboards at the start, and the liquid, overdubbed harmony break on "Real Cold" hark back a bit further to Brian Wilson's late-'60s work, but unlike so much of what's followed in that vein isn't content to stay there -- and for that we can all be grateful. ~ Ned Raggett|