On Sunset＜Purple Vinyl/限定盤＞

2020年5月から秋にかけてUK～ヨーロッパのツアーが発表されているポール・ウェラーが、2018年の『True Meanings』から2年ぶりにアルバムをリリース。

On Sunset finds Paul Weller returning to Polydor Records, the label both the Jam and Style Council called home back in the 1980s. Polydor and Weller parted ways after he delivered Modernism: A New Decade in 1989, an excursion into house music that the label deemed too uncommercial at the time. Ironically, On Sunset finds Weller picking up some of the threads left hanging by Modernism, not by reviving the big beat of house music but rather delving deep into soul-rock that looks forward and backward in equal measure. Reuniting with Jan Kybert -- the collaborator who co-wrote and co-produced 2015s Saturns Pattern but largely sat out its 2017 sequel, A Kind Revolution, and didnt appear at all on 2018s True Meanings -- Weller pushes himself into new textural territory, adhering to his love of soul, 60s rock, and folk yet assembling the parts in unpredictable fashions. All this is apparent from the moment the cool electronic groove underpinning the opening Mirror Ball starts fracturing into space, losing its rhythm and melody as it enters the stratosphere. A few other songs perform a similar trick -- particularly those like More, which seem to stretch out across the horizon -- but that fluid sensibility enlivens the leaner tracks, most of which arrive on the second half of the album. As the songs grow tighter, Weller indulges in a few familiar obsessions -- pastoral folk vies with psych-pop in the tradition of Steve Marriott -- but everything is cloaked in a glassy, reflective sheen, one that can sound progressive or electronic or traditional depending on perspective. The ever-changing sound exists largely on the surface, not the songs themselves, as theyre sturdy, winning tunes that find Weller in an appealing troubadour mode. Whats different about On Sunset is that expansive hybrid of electronic and R&B, a fusion colored by just enough experimentation and craft to make the album feel fresh and distinctly belonging to Weller. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

ジャム～スタイル・カウンシルが所属していた古巣ポリドールへ移籍しての第1弾作品。そんな状況からミック・タルボットとスティーヴ・ブルックスといった旧友の参加も目を惹くところだが、感慨よりも先に前を向くモッドファーザーの目線は力強い。ソウルやハウスを意識したダンサブルな"Mirror Ball"を筆頭に、先行カットの"Earth Beat"などで提示するハイブリッドかつ重厚なバンド・サウンドは現在進行形の逞しさを証明する。快作。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ