Blue Eyed Soul＜Purple Vinyl＞

Like Big Love before it, Blue Eyed Soul bears a title that gives Mick Hucknalls game away. This 2019 album is straight-up, straight down the middle blue-eyed soul, a collection of songs indebted to the classic sounds of Motown and Philadelphia International that uses Stax as an accent. The fact that Blue Eyed Soul isnt especially gritty shouldnt be much of a surprise. Hucknall has specialized in smoothness since 1989 and as produced by Andy Wright, this record is no exception: everything is tight and clean, the rhythms land in the pocket, and the surfaces are so polished they gleam. The album may sound slick, but its not comprised entirely of ballads. There are a number of lively, crisply funky workouts, a nice change of pace that also gives Hucknall an opportunity to rhyme booty with rooty tooty and sing the immortal couplet “Play the ding-dong hard/Play your ding-dong smart. Such silly flourishes may be cringe-inducing for a certain segment of listeners, but theyre also clear signs that Hucknall is loosening up on Blue Eyed Soul, creating a party record for fans who adore the immaculate grooves of Simply Red. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

通算12枚目の新作はみずからの音楽性をそのままタイトルに掲げた自信作。盟友アンディ・ライトをプロデューサーに迎えて制作され、ミック・ハックネルが〈パンチの効いたアルバムを作りたかった〉と語っている通り、彼が前のめりにシャウトしまくるアッパーな感じがたまらなく良い。サウンド的には彼らが愛する60年代のソウルを意識したもので、楽しみながら録音したのが否が応にも伝わります。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二