Ripped Apparition＜限定盤＞

艶やかミニマムエレクトロニカでトム・ヨーク風ボーカル!!NYの電子SSW最新作!

NY拠点のROBERT TOHERによるソロプロジェクト、4年振りのアルバム!!

揺らめくようなエレクトロニカやミニマム構成で没入感を出しつつ、美声が炸裂するボーカルで活動するROBERT TOHERによるソロプロジェクトPUBLIC MEMORY。

4年と長めのインターバルを置いてリリースされる最新作「RIPPED APPARITION」は、先行公開曲『Epigone』で鳴っているように、今までのズシズシと重めに来る作風から一気に軽量化が図られた印象!!エレクトロニカの王道と言える点滅している信号のような反復シンセと、トム・ヨーク的な少し高い美声で軽やかに唄い上げる組み合わせは結構新鮮!!2分台なのにのめり込んでしまいそうな陶酔感があるのも凄いポイント!SEの細かな挿入含めてインディーとクラブサウンドの久々に良質なコンボ!!そしてジャケットのマッチは視覚的にも「揺らいでる」という意味なんでしょうか...!?

トム・ヨーク、RADIOHEADは勿論THE XX、FOUR TETファンに響くはずな作品!

With Ripped Apparition, Public Memorys Robert Toher continues to craft music that burrows deep into listeners psyches. Though Toher used a host of new synthesizers that transformed his creative process, the projects third album is still very much on brand, from song titles like Worn Shadow to the spectral layers of sounds and textures he builds into his moody tracks. Ripped Apparition also finds him connecting Public Memorys music to other shadowy styles and artists without borrowing too obviously from any of them. Bad Orbits serpentine melody feels akin to Thom Yorkes solo work; Dusseldorf Witch Hats low-slung beat and distant chimes evoke witch house as well as the output of Ghost Boxs roster; and Lost Future closes the album by topping its organic flow of strings and guitar with some frosty, John Carpenter-like sparkle. Nevertheless, theres an elegance to Tohers music that is singular, especially on the destroyed beauty of Dracula AD, and sonic labyrinths like Azimuth are distinctively lulling even as he ratchets up the tension. As detailed as his productions are, Ripped Apparition is often most compelling when Toher makes his androgynous, anguished vocals the focus. Butcher is a standout that suggests Public Memory is one of the few acts capable of continuing the haunting, blunted moods of Portishead, while the surreal lyrics of Midsummer Shadow and Epigone only add to the heady vibe of the rest of the album while giving it more substance. Ripped Apparition might be a little more linear than 2018s Demolition, but its another testament to Tohers skill at soothing, seducing, and unsettling his audience at the same time. ~ Heather Phares