Bauhaus, L'Appartamento

An Italian-born singer/songwriter based in Manchester, U.K., Giulia Bonometti was founding guitarist of post-punk revivalists Working Mens Club before striking out on her own as Julia Bardo. Her full-length and Wichita Recordings debut, Bauhaus, LAppartamento, was the product of months spent in quarantine in Manchester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Relatedly, themes of isolation, loneliness, love, and homesickness steer the album, which was eventually recorded in Greenwich with her backing band and producer Euan Hinshelwood of Younghusband. Notable is the sets fusion of modern indie pop and vintage 60s pop, rock, and folk sensibilities, which come together under a voice that bears an uncanny resemblance to Natalie Merchant, at least at times. These prominent traits are most evident on a track like the heartbroken ballad In Your Eyes, which features pure guitar tones and gentle touches of keys and twang behind a particularly timeless melody. The 1980s of 10,000 Maniacs are more strongly invoked on the bouncier Do This to Me, which adds a blended saxophone and tinnier MTV-era timbres to the mix. The albums through line, though, is a warm, folk-rock-inflected pop that relies on acoustic and electric guitars and live drums as well as bittersweet melodies and worry. Also included in the lyrics are sentiments like Love Out of Control and Its Okay to Not Be Okay, the latter a midtempo ballad with moaning instrumental backing. The promising debut ends on the brighter Goodbye Tomorrow, a catchy entry with one of the albums many head-bobbing bass grooves, if lyrics anticipate parting ways. ~ Marcy Donelson

イタリア生まれでマンチェスターを拠点に活動するシンガー・ソングライターの初作。少々歪み気味でどこかぶっきらぼうなギターが耳に残る"No Feeling"など独特な雰囲気を纏ったロック・チューンから嗅ぎ取れるのは、ヴェルヴェット・アンダーグラウンドの世界に直結するメランコリー。気怠げで浮遊感のある歌唱も曲にミステリアスな奥行きを与えていて良い。ヤングハズバンドのユアン・ヒンシェルウッドがプロデュースを担当。
bounce (C)桑原シロー