Planet (I)

On her sophomore album as Squirrel Flower, Boston native Ella OConnor Williams leans into a sprawl of emotional chaos, dispatching demons and riding out the storm with a mercurial sense of curiosity. As a toponym, Planet (i) refers to a combination of spirit and place; that of her own self as well as the world at large. Themes of personal, meteorological, and environmental disaster scud like silver clouds over the albums panoramic arrangements in a tenuous, but pleasingly textural way. Recorded in the U.K. by producer Ari Chant (PJ Harvey, Perfume Genius), Williams already melancholic indie rock takes on some of the hazy grit that hangs like an aural patina over Bristols legendary music scene. Where her 2020 debut seemed almost celestial in its moodiness, Planet (i) is rooted and decidedly earthbound. The thrilling Hurt a Fly ripples with electricity and light while songs like Roadkill and the sprawling Night are all gravity as if wrought from deep mineral deposits and stone. A number of the tracks, though, are quite gentle, bearing a woolen sadness that is quite affecting. I saw a hummingbird face down in the water, sings Williams in an airy half-whisper, imbuing the lovely Deluge in the South with heartbreaking imagery. The sparse Desert Wildflowers, on the other hand, is quietly defiant in its eerie uplift. Like Squirrel Flowers debut, Planet (i) is a journey through an ever-changing landscape and marks a noticeable creative step forward for Williams. ~ Timothy Monger

デビューアルバムは多くのメディアで好評を博した米ボストン出身のSSW=Ella Willia msのソロ・プロジェクト【Squirrel Flower】の2ndアルバム『Planet(I)』で遂に日本デビューを果たした。今作ではPJ HarvyやPerfume Geniusをプロデュースした経歴のあるAli Chantを起用。メランコリックで徐々に勢いを増すように展開するリード曲《Hurt A Fly》や、アイオワ州での昔の恋人と思い出を懐古的に歌った《Iowa 146》はアルバムの中でも特に完成度の高い曲になっている。グランジやシューゲイザー等多くのエッセンスを取り入れ、多彩なアレンジが光る彼女の飛躍を象徴するアルバムだ。
intoxicate (C)石田真生