Hearts Town

マイケル・トロッター・Jr.とターニャ・ブラウント・トロッターの夫妻デュオ、The War And Treatyの、2018年に大絶賛された『Healing Tide』以来2年ぶりの作品。

本作ではダイナミックなサウンドは、サザン・ソウルとの融合、ゴスペル、カントリー、ロックンロール、ブルースの要素を取り入れたソウルを楽しむことができる。先行配信されている「Five More Minutes」は高揚感あふれる楽曲でマイケル・トロッターは、「あの曲は、『君を愛する時間があと5分あれば、人生で最高の5分間になるだろう』と言っているんだ」と説明。

2020年、第62回グラミー賞のステージに立ち、シンディ・ローパー、ジョン・レジェンド、ゲイリー・クラーク・ジュニア、コモンなどのアイコンと共演し、新たなファンを獲得した本デュオ、本作でますます話題になること必至。

Tanya Blount-Trotter and Michael Trotter Jr., the couple behind the Nashville rock and soul act the War and Treaty, have a knack for dynamics. When they first appeared on the Americana scene in 2017, they did so with immediate gusto, delivering a fully formed and extremely confident amalgam of soul, folk, R&B, and country sung with the passion of gospel and the muscle of rock. While the husband-and-wife team may be relatively new as a musical duo, between them exists an interesting and varied catalog of credits dating back to the 1990s. On Hearts Town, the follow-up to their 2018 breakout Healing Tide, the Trotters crank up the power even further, turning in a deeply compassionate collection that is almost cinematic in its scope, though still a lot of fun. Self-produced and featuring a bevy of roots music staples, from instrumentalists like dobro legend Jerry Douglas and guitarist Chris Eldridge to singer/songwriter Jason Isbell, the album kicks off with a rock & roll flourish, with songs like Yearning and the Isbell-assisted Beautiful rippling with heavy guitars, horn stacks, and the full-bore attack of the Trotters exuberant, intermingling vocals. A more soulful highlight is the playful and rousing Five More Minutes, which features some of Michaels best vocal takes. Midway through, they take a breath with the stripped-down acoustic gospel-folk gem Jubilee before revving back up with the joyous, bluesy ballad Hey Pretty Moon, a showcase for Tanyas massive vocal range. Elsewhere they take curious, but somehow effective, forays into energetic pop (Jealousy), torchy ballads (Lonely in My Grief), and elegant, earthy folk (Hustlin). At times, the production threatens to become a little too heavy-handed, but with voices and talent like the Trotters possess, going big seems less a sin than underrepresenting their strengths. ~ Timothy Monger