Free Love

3年ぶりとなるサード・アルバムは、シルヴァン・エッソらしさ溢れる快作!

LAでのジョン・ヒルとのセッションに始まり、ノース・カロライナでシルヴァン・エッソのホーム・スタジオに戻って完成された作品。自己像、自己正義、友情、ロマンス、遊び心、そして環境災害に至るまでの様々をテーマにして、サウンドはアルバムを通してSylvan Essoらしさ溢れた快作!

The follow-up to 2017s Grammy-nominated What Now, Free Love sees Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn deliver another compelling collection of sweetly fractured electronic indie-pop. All of Sylvan Essos strengths are on display here -- fidgety loops, heartfelt melodies, spectral sound collages, and lyrics that feel both inscrutable and homespun -- but where previous efforts administered fast-acting dopamine hits like Coffee, Radio, and Die Young, the more measured Free Love reveals its understated splendor over time. Book ended by the lyrics What if end was begin and Play it again, the ten-track-set is both elliptical and existential, but also emotionally substantive. The off-center fluidity that Meath and Sanborn have cultivated over the years has reached peak buoyancy, with each beep, boop, and trenchant beat serving to punctuate Meaths delicate phrasing. The propulsive Ring and Ferris Wheel are two first-spin gems that will no doubt populate the duos set list for years to come, but its the less immediate offerings that yield the biggest dividends. Rooftop Dancing, with its soft, summery gait and playground ambiance finds the golden-hued sweet spot between melancholy and nostalgia, the skittering Runaway evokes the bouncy urban bohemia of tUnE-yArDs, and the moving closing cut Make It Easy proves that a song can be anthemic without aiming for the rafters. Detractors will rightfully point out that Free Love utilizes the same sonic architecture as its predecessors, but its a fairly idiosyncratic template and one that Meath and Sanborn have shown great skill with over three albums now. Besides, the world always needs more dance music for introverts. ~ James Christopher Monger

ノースカロライナ州ダーラム出身のエレクトロ・ポップ・デュオが、グラミー賞にノミネートされた『What Now』以来3年ぶりとなるアルバムをリリース。今作も彼ららしい無機質でクセになるシンセ・リフとフォーキーなメロディーをベースにしつつ、ユニークなシンセ音が聴けたり、テクノの風味があったり、所々で新境地も感じさせる。表面上はクールでシンプルでも中身はこれまで以上に情熱的な作品だ。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二