Come Home To Mama

ニューヨーク出身の女性シンガー・ソングライター、Martha Wainwright(マーサ・ウェインライト)。70年代にフォーク界で活躍したシンガー・ソングライター、Kate McGarrigle(ケイト・マクギャリル)とLoudon Wainwright III(ラウドン・ウェインライト3世)の娘であり、'98年にデビューしたシンガー・ソングライター、Rufus Wainwright(ルーファス・ウェインライト)の妹という、ミュージシャン一家に生まれ育った彼女がシンガー・ソングライターへの道を歩み始めたのは、半ば必然でもあったのだろう。'05年にアルバム『Martha Wainwright』でデビュー。そのロック、フォーク、カントリー、シャンソン等を飲み込んだ幅広い音楽性と、彼女のソウルフルなヴォーカルによって、Tim Buckley(ティム・バックリー)やKate Bush(ケイト・ブッシュ)などを引き合いに出されながらプレスより絶賛を浴びる。その後、'08年にはThe Who(ザ・フー)のPete Townshend(ピート・タウンゼント)、The Band(ザ・バンド)のGarth Hudson(ガース・ハドソン)、Steely Dan(スティーリー・ダン)のDonald Fagen(ドナルド・フェイゲン)といった豪華ミュージシャンが参加した2ndアルバム『I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too』をリリース。兄ルーファスとの共演曲や、Pink Floyd(ピンク・フロイド)、Eurythmics(ユーリズミックス)のカヴァー曲も収録された、エモーショナルで詩的な彼女独特のハスキー・ヴォイスが胸に響く良作となった。あれから4年、ついにこの度4作目を完成させたマーサ。

Mojo - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[With] inspired genre-hopping and relentless invention...a substantial and brilliantly sung career-best." Q - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here are eye-popping tempo changes in 'Radio Star,' quasi-opera in 'Proserpina' and wintry electronics in 'Four Black Sheep'..."

Martha Wainwright's 2012 effort Come Home to Mama is the singer/songwriter's third studio album. Recorded in Sean Lennon's home studio, the album was produced by Cibo Matto's Yuka Honda. Working with a bevy of guest musicians including Honda and Lennon, as well as Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Dirty Three drummer Jim White, and others, Wainwright mixes her intimate, poetic writing style with a layered baroque pop aesthetic. In that sense, Come Home to Mama combines the more folk-oriented sound of Wainwright's 2005 debut with her 2008 rock-influenced sophomore album, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too. Come Home to Mama features the leadoff single "Proserpina," which was written by Wainwright's mother, the late Kate McGarrigle.|

Martha Wainwright is an artist who has absolutely no fear of emotional honesty, a quality that has long figured strongly in her work (not everyone has the nerve to record a song called "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole" about their own semi-famous father), and she has plenty to open up about on her fifth album, Come Home to Mama. This is Wainwright's first set of original material since 2008, and since then she got married, had a child who was born 11 weeks premature, and struggled with the death of her mother, and not surprisingly, life's transitions dominate the songs here. Wainwright doesn't pull any punches in her songwriting; her songs about her marriage range from warts-and-all celebrations of her relationship ("Can You Believe It") to bittersweet admissions of defeat ("Some People"), and the closing song to her child, "Everything Wrong," may be the most harrowingly honest song addressed to one's offspring since Richard Thompson's "The End of the Rainbow." But some of the most potent material here deals with Wainwright's late mother, Kate McGarrigle; the album includes Wainwright's interpretation of "Proserpina," the final song McGarrigle wrote, which uses mythology as a metaphor for the often turbulent relationship between mother and daughter, and "All Your Clothes" finds Wainwright struggling with the physical and emotional baggage left to her by her mom's passing. While this material is emotionally intense, Wainwright never sounds like she's wallowing in self-pity, and her sharply expressive, slightly theatrical vocals are in splendid form, while the production (mostly by Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto) has a slightly cool electronic undertow that complements both Wainwright's wit and her harsh introspection. And Wainwright is accompanied by some superb musicians who give these songs the support they deserve, including Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Dirty Three drummer Jim White, and Sean Lennon on bass. Come Home to Mama isn't always an easy or cheery listen, but anyone familiar with Martha Wainwright's work knows not to expect that; it is a compelling, engaging, and emotionally powerful set of songs from a strikingly talented singer and songwriter, and this is her most intimate and affecting work to date. ~ Mark Deming

兄ルーファスがポップな傑作をリリースした今年、妹君の新作もまたポップ路線なのは単なる偶然か。何とプロデュースはチボ・マットの本田ゆか。モダンなプロダクションが果たしてマーサの歌に合うのか、正直不安もあったが、最近イイ意味でアクの出てきたヴォーカルの存在感はどんなサウンドの前でもブレることがない。ウィルコのネルス・クライン（ギター）やダーティ・スリーのジム・ホワイト（ドラムス）も参加。
bounce (C)斎藤遠太