Heaven To A Tortured Mind

世界的評価を獲得した前作『Safe In The Hands Of Love』で、退屈なメインストリームに一撃を与え、独特の世界観で存在感を放っている奇才イヴ・トゥモアが、新章の幕開けを告げる新作『Heaven To A Tortured Mind』をリリース!

その評価を決定づける鋭利な実験性はそのままに、サイケロックとモダンポップの絶妙なバランスをさらに追い求めた本作では、共同プロデューサーにスカイ・フェレイラやアリエル・ピンク、チャーリーXCXらを手がけるジャスティン・ライセンを迎えている。2018年の最高点となる9.1点でPitchfork【BEST NEW MUSIC】を獲得したのを筆頭に、New YorkTimes、Rolling Stone、FADER、NPRなどの主要メディアがこぞって絶賛するなど、その年を代表するアルバムとして最高級の評価を得た前作『SafeIn The Hands Of Love』。その音楽性についてThe Wireは「ここには、Frank Ocean と James Blake が探ってきたものの手がかりが確かに存在するが、何よりも Yves Tumor は黒人の Radiohead という装いが、自分に合うかどうかってことを試して遊んでいるのかもしれない」と解説している。
2019年は、Coachella、Primaveraなどの大型フェスにも出演を果たし、多くのファンを獲得しているイヴ・トゥモア。抽象に意味を与え、不協和音すら調和させ、現実の定義を壊す。哲学めいた制作アプローチを経ても、聴くだけで思わず惹きつけられるずば抜けた表現力と音楽性の高さは、「新世紀のゴスペル」と題された新曲がまさに証明している。

At one point on Heaven to a Tortured Mind, Yves Tumor sings I can be anything. It may be the most definitive statement from an artist who resists boundaries as thoroughly, and creatively, as Tumor does. Since 2015, theyve established themself as an unparalleled musical chameleon, changing their sound and perspective with each release and often within a single track. On 2016s soulful collage Serpent Music and the kaleidoscopic pop of 2018s Safe in the Hands of Love, the leaps Tumor made were huge. On Heaven to a Tortured Mind, theyre smaller, but just as profound. This time, Tumor unites all the sounds they explored on their previous work into funky, futuristic, iridescent R&B pop thats more cohesive and immediate than anything theyve done before. At this point, consistency is the most surprising move they could make, and Heavens sonic clarity is almost as startling. Starting with Gospel for a New Centurys hard-edged fanfares, Tumor comes in louder and clearer than ever before. When they briefly revisit the noisy atmospheres that dominated their earlier releases, as on the skyrocketing distortion of Medicine Burn or the static-laden Folie Imposee, it only underscores how far theyve moved from that aesthetic on the rest of the album. This cleaner sound also lets the individual elements of Tumors brilliance shine. Their voice is more prominent than ever, along with the vocals of their collaborators, all of whom help make sensuality -- the main constant in Tumors work since Serpent Music -- the focus of Heaven to a Tortured Mind. The standout Kerosene, a duet with singer/songwriter Diana Gordon thats equally reminiscent of Ariel Pink and Childish Gambino, lives up to its combustive title. On Romanticist and Dream Palette, they recruit Kelsey Lu and Sunflower Beans Julia Cumming to revel in the tender and turbulent extremes of new love. Similarly, their bass, the first instrument they learned how to play, provides an impressively serpentine spine for the drifting Strawberry Privilege as well as Identity Trades brassy psych-funk incantation. Frequently, the album feels like a love letter to the vintage soul Tumor grew up hearing, whether on the radiant Super Stars or the shadowy, mystical finale, A Greater Love. Previously, Tumor has stated that they want to make songs listeners need to play. They more than achieve that on Heaven to a Tortured Mind, an album that suggests the easiest way to define Tumor is as an artist who consistently outdoes themself. ~ Heather Phares

ワープ発の前作『Safe In The Hands Of Love』(2018年)が絶賛されたショーン・ボウイのソロ・プロジェクト、イヴ・トゥモアのニュー・アルバム。韓国歌謡を引用した"Gospel For A New Century"や"Ro-m-anticist"など、おもしろいネタ使いが多い。シンコペーションを多用したベースラインが際立つせいか、全体的にファンクやソウルの要素が顕著だ。前作の奇抜さとは程遠いシンプルな音作りも印象的。
bounce (C)近藤真弥