Cenizas

Nicolas Jaar released no less than three albums and one EP during 2020, and while he reserved his more club-ready material for his Against All Logic alias, the two full-lengths credited to his own name, Cenizas and Telas, contain some of the most experimental work hes ever produced. Cenizas, issued in March, is particularly challenging at first, but rewards as the listener becomes more accustomed to its unique properties and atmospheres. Jaar recorded the album in self-imposed isolation as a sort of healing mission, and it ended up being perhaps a bit more of a purge than he intended. The 13 abstract compositions are often filled with eerie voices, funereal organs, and unsettling whirring and scraping noises of indeterminate origin. Jaars reverb-cloaked voice nearly resembles Gregorian chanting at some points, and when he does sing discernable lyrics, they seem to reflect loneliness and desperation (he simply repeats Say youre coming back on the ominous opener Vanish) or evoke images of destruction (the records title translates to ashes). Tracks like Agosto and Rubble (which seems to incorporate the sound of scattered debris) are dark electro-acoustic jazz, with steely saxophones nervously bleating over distant keyboards and outfitted with audacious sound design. The longest cut, Mud, is a sort of droning blues mantra, with Jaar howling over slow, lurching drums before a nearly harp-like keyboard solo takes over. Hello, Chain starts out sounding lost, confused, and pleading, but it unexpectedly goes into a gorgeous second part that is both haunting and hopeful. This relative sense of optimism is continued on Faith Made of Silk, the albums final track, in which Jaar advises to Look around, not ahead over flittering, jazzy drums and muted synths. Curiously, the drums briefly mutate into skittering drumnbass breakbeats before everything goes silent, approximating the sensation of suddenly being jolted awake from a vivid dream. Moments like these keep the album intriguing, and they resonate more deeply with repeated listens. ~ Paul Simpson

10年代のエレクトロニック・ミュージック界隈においてジェイムズ・ブレイクと双璧をなすトップ・プロデューサー、ニコラス・ジャーの通算4作目。移住先のLAで現地シーンと邂逅してよりポップなフィールドへとアプローチしていったJBとは対照的に、ここで聴けるのはサイド・プロジェクトのダークサイドや別名義アゲインスト・オール・ロジックなど、さまざまなアプローチを用いながらも内なる音楽へとディープに変遷してきた、主役の集大成ともいうべきサウンドだ。ゆったりと時間をかけて展開を重ね、確かな推進力で圧巻の別世界へといざない、その果てで出会うのは漆黒の闇にしっかとそびえ立つ音響彫刻。ラシャド・ベッカーによるマスタリングも鉄壁で、もはや言うことありません。
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