Souvenir

バッドバッドノットグッドとの7inchがLight In The Atticからリリースされたことも話題となり、ジェームス・ブレイク meets シャックス と海外メディアでは表現されているジョナ・ヤノ、注目の1stアルバムがInnovative Leisureから発売!

The Fader、Billboard、Complexなどの主要な音楽メディアで賞賛を浴び、ヴァージル・アブローやジャイルス・ピーターソンの注目を集め、SpotifyやApple Musicで何百万もの再生数を記録しているジョナ・ヤノ。プロデューサーのMonsune(M8「strawberry!」、M3「delicate」)、バッドバッドノットグッドのリーランド・ウィッティ(M1「poor me」、M5「monarch」、M2「anywhere」)、ジャック・グリーン(M9「What i can do to help」)と、才能あるアーティストとコラボレーションし、アルバムの最終曲となるM11「"shoes"」にはなんと実の父=タツヤ・ムラオカをフィーチャー。彼のソウルフルでジャンルを超えたヴォーカルと、切なくも個人的な歌詞がミックスされ、家族との別れや和解をテーマにした傑作!

Souvenir is the full-length debut from Jonah Yano, a singer/songwriter who colors his dreamy, soul-tinged adult alternative songs with subtle electronics and jazz and hip-hop influences. Its a particularly wistful release that includes a song originally written and recorded by his father, musician Tatsuya Muraoka, in the 90s. Titled Shoes, it was reworked by Yano after the two reconciled following a 15-year separation. Muraoka still appears on the track, a gentle, jaunty tune about a pair of shoes he bought for his young son. Its central acoustic guitar and bass are fleshed out by spare electronic tones and effects as well as layered vocals by Yano, who answers Muraokas original vocals with lines like What I recall is spinning in circles/Hoping one day Id face you. It closes the album on a touching note, with prior tracks addressing his fathers absence from much of Yanos life, including some that take the point of view of other family members. Souvenir opens with the delicate Poor Me, an appreciation of his mother that establishes the albums light, hazy atmospheres with acoustic guitar, mallet percussion, keyboard, and bass guitar. Fleshier songs include the jazzy Anywhere and the dramatic, Auto-Tuned Strawberry!, which ends in a burst of noise and a guitar solo fade-out. Elsewhere, warped, fluttery effects and woodwinds accompany the singers yearning vocals on Monarch, and the funkier Delicate is a standout memorable for its smooth groove and melodically descending chorus. The album takes a free-form, experimental turn near the end, on What I Can Do to Help before a spoken-word field recording links the sonic outburst to the albums melodic closer. Souvenir remains in a pensive space even through these occasional diversions, which come off like expressive detailing on a poignant debut. ~ Marcy Donelson

カナダを拠点とするジョナ・ヤノのファースト・アルバム。モンスーンやジャック・グリーンなどの助力を得て作られたサウンドは、ほのかにサイケデリックな匂いを醸す。R&Bやヒップホップの意匠が顕著でありながら、アコースティックな音も多いところはフォーク的と言える。どこか長唄的なヤノの歌い回し、家族との離別や和解といったパーソナルな側面が滲む歌詞など、魅力が多い作品だ。
bounce (C)近藤真弥