Sixteen Oceans

キエラン・ヘブデンのソロ・ユニット、フォー・テットが2017年の『New Energy』以来、約2年半ぶりとなるニュー・アルバム『Sixteen Oceans』をリリース。
エリー・ゴールディングが参加した「Baby」他、全16曲収録。

By the end of the 2010s, Kieran Hebden had become a hotter property in clubland than ever, playing headlining sets at every major club and festival imaginable, and releasing inescapable tracks such as Question and Only Human. While both of those cuts were simply credited to the initials KH, his material as Four Tet has continued to encompass atmospheric dance tracks as well as downtempo meditations and ambient experiments. 2017s New Energy was by far one of his most accessible releases, while still demonstrating an impressively wide range of his talents, and was received enthusiastically. Sixteen Oceans is similarly eclectic, but it skews much closer towards abstract pieces and field recording-based interludes than its predecessor. Hebden can still spin gold out of a simple drum machine beat and a pretty, sophisticated melody, as evidenced by opener School and the sparkling Something in the Sadness. Tracks like the fantastic Insect Near Piha Beach attest to his undying devotion to U.K. club culture yet are as far from formulaic genre exercises as possible. Perhaps the albums most attention-grabbing tune is Baby, a dreamy thumper featuring chopped-up vocals by Ellie Goulding. In some ways, its like a more introspective sibling of Only Human, Hebdens Nelly Furtado-sampling club hit. The track pauses in the middle for a sample of gentle birdsong, and similarly relaxing nature sounds pop up throughout the album, from gorgeous downtempo tracks like Romantics to brief pieces such as ISTM and Bubbles at Overlook 25th March 2019. Ending the album is Mama Teaches Sanskrit, which consists of rippling bells and the language lesson implied by the tracks title, concluding with a calm mantra of Shanti, Shanti. A little bit of a diversion from past Four Tet releases, Sixteen Oceans feels like Hebden is taking a moment to stop and reflect on his family, his environment, music culture, and everything else that made him who he is. ~ Paul Simpson

あぁ、これほどまでに音楽に希望を感じることがあるだろうか。混沌とした空気が漂ういまこそ聴きたいアルバムと言ってもいい。前作から約2年半、フォー・テットのソロ10作目がついにリリース。フロア向けのアッパーな曲で幕を開けるこのアルバムは、アンビエントやエレクトロニカなどさまざまな表情を見せつつも、極彩色で華やかなアルバム全体の仕上がりが春の暖かい陽気によく合う。心温まる希望に満ちた作品だ。
bounce (C)長谷川義和