The Undivided Five

Adam WiltzieとDustin O'Halloranが鳴らすこの世でもっとも美しいアンビエント A Winged Victory For The Sullen最新作

アンビエント、そしてエレクトロニックミュージックに影響された音楽を奏で、Max Richter、Tim Hecker そしてFenneszといったアーティストらと並んで評価を確かなものにしてきたA Winged Victory for the Sullenが最新作『The Undivided Five』をリリース。Johann Johannssonとのコラボレーションを行なったこともあるAdam Wiltzieとポスト・クラシカルの雄Dustin O'Halloranによるプロジェクトは今までにフィルムスコアや前衛的なアンビエントを〈ErasedTapes〉や〈Kranky〉といったレーベルからリリースし、キャリアを重ねてきた。〈Ninja Tune〉からリリースされる最新作は彼らの根幹にあるアンビエントやネオクラシカルといった音楽を感じさせる作品となっている。

The Undivided Five is neo-classical duo A Winged Victory for the Sullens fifth release, but only their second studio album to be composed as a standalone work, rather than as a film score or commissioned for a dance performance. Its title also alludes to the perfect fifth chord, as well as The Five, a group of artists based in Sweden who believed in the importance of making contact with spirits, and often organized seances. At the beginning of the albums recording, a close friend of the group died, and member Dustin OHalloran learned that he was due to become a father for the first time. All of these life-changing events and profound ideas shape the course of the album, which is one of the duos most labored-over works yet. The full-length was assembled from recording sessions in eight different locations throughout Europe, including Budapests Magyar Radio Studio 22, Brussels Eglise du Beguinage (a spacious Roman Catholic church), and Ben Frosts Reykjavik-based studio. As with other AWVFTS releases, though, this is anything but bombastic, and theres much greater attention paid to intricacies and subtle details than before. The arrangements consist of calm, patient pianos, gently swelling strings, and deftly integrated modular synthesizers, which help the pieces glow and vibrate. Its a vast, involved recording, but it doesnt bowl the listener over with heavy-handed sentimentality. Nevertheless, if certain pieces catch you at the right moment, they can be tear-jerkers. The quietly stirring The Slow Descent Has Begun is particularly mournful, while elegiac strings rise out of the celestial textures of Adios, Florida, hinting at Gorecki-level proportions of sorrow. The Rhythm of a Dividing Pair is a comparatively brighter, beginning with a simple, doorbell-catchy melody before being surrounded by a warm hug of strings and dusted with a faint sprinkling of high-pitched piano notes. As always, the duos song titles reveal their sense of humor, which ranges from self-conscious (Our Lord Debussy) to pitch-black (Keep It Dark, Deutschland), indicating that a bit of levity and absurdity helps when pondering life, death, and the cosmos. ~ Paul Simpson