Broken Bells

James Mercer and Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) want their project Broken Bells to be seen, and heard, as an honest-to-goodness band, not a side-project dalliance. It's a little tricky to do that when first listening to their self-titled debut album, since they're such well-known and distinctive talents: Mercer crafted singularly bittersweet indie pop with the Shins, while Burton brought the Beatles and Jay-Z together on The Grey Album and went on to shape sounds for equally omnivorous artists like Beck and Gorillaz. Mercer's songwriting skills and Danger Mouse's production mastery sound like a potent combo, and they are, when the pair balances its ambitions and respective strengths. Mercer's vocals and melodies will almost certainly evoke the Shins to some degree or another, but he and Burton steer clear of the bright pop that countered that band's gloomier moments in favor of winding melodies and mellow atmosphere with lush production and arrangements. “Citizen” presents its small melody in lavish surroundings -- it’s hazy bedroom pop, if that bedroom were in a five-star hotel with 1000-thread-count sheets. “The High Road” melds slick electronic percussion and a searching, minor-key melody into something that echoes the duo’s previous work without rehashing it. “The Ghost Inside” is especially exciting, pushing Mercer outside of his comfort zone by pairing his falsetto with wobbly keyboards and strings. Toward the end, Broken Bells break out of their reflective mood with “Mongrel Heart” and “The Mall & the Misery,” which, after a lengthy expanse of strings and horns, closes the album with some crisp chamber pop. ~ Heather Phares

ユニークな組み合わせが予想外の化学反応を起こす――そんなマジックはもはや作り話の世界でしか有り得ないと思っていたが、大間違いだった。ナールズ・バークレーで名を馳せた奇才プロデューサーのデンジャー・マウスと、USインディー・ロックの筆頭株であるシンズのフロントマン＝ジェイムズ・マーサーによるユニットの初作。一見まるで畑違いのようにも思えるが、このタッグ、実に良い。幾多の楽器が織り成すソフト&サイケなトラックと、繊細なメロウネスを極めたヴォーカル。お互いの得意手を駆使しつつ、<センチで美しいメロディーの創出>に徹底して焦点を絞り込んだプロダクションが確信的だ。豊潤な音楽語彙を持つ2人以外には作れない不思議なポップスが、ここには確かにある。
bounce (C)北爪啓之