Ungodly Hour

The harmonizing Bailey sisters took their time -- three years -- in making their first true album. The deliberation paid off when The Kids Are Alright crossed into the Top 20 of Billboards R&B/hip-hop chart and was singled out with Grammy nominations for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best New Artist. Their 2020 follow-up might seem rushed in comparison, and its assembly of high-profile producers -- Chloe was the primary producer on the debut -- suggests a conscious attempt to throw their commercial prospects into overdrive. While it evidently came together quicker and was shaped more by outsiders like Sounwave and Jake One, Scott Storch, Disclosure, Mike WiLL Made-It, and Boi-1da, the Baileys second album is really a refinement of and progression from The Kids Are Alright. Its pop-R&B foundation is a little slicker, still tricked out with the occasional trap-styled production techniques -- probing bass, rattling percussion -- twisted just enough to not sound overdone. The Baileys are unsurprisingly able to adapt to chic throwback soul flavorings and acoustic pop, while on the title track, they slip and slide with finesse over Disclosures smoothed-out U.K. garage, punctuating it with an impossibly elegant chorus. Sisterhood on nuclear and communal levels is promoted to an unflagging extent by the women, who come across as eager superheroes without a weakness, unless feeling Overwhelmed counts, and they might be capable of paralyzing with a single roll of the eyes. Theyll catch and reprimand any guy who acts out of line and will make him regret it. The fun peaks on Tipsy: Ill hit you where it hurts/If you dont put me first. ~ Andy Kellman

後見人のビヨンセに頼らずユニークな自己演出で独自に進化を遂げている姉妹デュオ。これは2020年のセカンド・アルバムに2曲を追加した拡大版で、スコット・ストーチらが手掛けた"Do It"に代表されるトラップ・ポップ的なR&Bを歌い、サウンウェイヴやディスクロージャー、マイク・ウィル・メイド・イットらにも援護を受けながらシアトリカルなヴォーカル&ハーモニーでふたりの世界に引き込む。追加曲ではドラムンベースも飛び出す。
bounce (C)林 剛