My Dear Melancholy

ザ・ウィークエンドの2018年発表ミニ・アルバムのLP。Mike WiLL Made-It (#1) やSkrillex (#3) 等のプロデューサー陣が参加。
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Coming off multi-platinum, Grammy-winning success with Starboy and apt placement on the Black Panther soundtrack, Abel Tesfaye shirks candy-coated summertime jams for aggrieved ballads with this six-track EP, issued with little advance notice. Considering its unswerving focus on romantic anguish and self-medication, and a listener's natural inclination to associate the pronouns with Tesfaye's famous exes, the EP might seem extreme, but it retraces familiar shapes in condensed form. Most obviously, "Call Out My Name" resembles "Earned It" with synthesized menace in place of strings and a dash of the distorted terror previously heard on "The Hills." Apart from the sly and sweet 2-step rhythm on "Wasted Times," the sound of the EP is bleary R&B with beats that drag and lurch, suited for Tesfaye's swings between self-pity and sexual vanity, chemically enhanced from one extreme to the other. Tesfaye can be one of the most affecting vocalists in contemporary pop. When he sings "I got two red pills to take the blues away" in "Privilege," he might as well be slouched in the driver's seat of one of his luxury sports cars, staring into his open palm like he's holding all that he truly values. ~ Andy Kellman

急遽リリースされた6曲入りミニ・アルバム。フランク・デュークスを中心に、マイク・ウィル・メイド・イット、スクリレックス、ダフト・パンクのギ=マニュエルも制作に関わるが、ニコラス・ジャーの曲を引用した"Call Out My Name"を筆頭に、暗闇から響いてくるような甘く繊細な声で歌われる沈鬱で官能的なスロウは初期に回帰したかのよう。ゲサフェルスタインが客演した"Hurt You"の"Starboy"感も興味深い秀作だ。
bounce (C)林剛