Life, And Another

With her long-running Mega Bog moniker, songwriter Erin Birgy has written her own musical language, molding whatever sounds and styles she touches around her otherworldly and always internally drawn vision of pop. Sixth Mega Bog full-length Life & Another continues Birgys boundless curiosity and exploration of both self and the universe writ large, again shifting on a whim from one colorful mode to the next within the framework of a cohesive larger statement. This begins with the light Tropicalia-adjacent groove of album-opener Flower, where Birgy crams overflowing lyrics into laid-back verses while tight, jazzy guitar leads harmonize. This sunny introduction to Life & Another does an about face immediately into the dark synth pop of the next track Station to Station. Its a shadowy foil to the bright moments depicted one track before, and the lyrics are heavy with heartache and betrayal. Much of the album jumps from one approach to the next with each new track, but Birgy returns to certain modes as she goes, creating a cryptic sort of song cycle. The jumpy and upbeat Weight of the Earth, On Paper crackles energetically, and its theatrical tinges and animated approach show up again later on songs like Before a Black Tea. Similarly, theres an almost ambient take on folk and rock idioms that comes through in waves with tracks like Adorable and the gorgeously drifting guitar-forward instrumental Darmok. Mega Bog albums have often touched on themes of death and existential pondering, but Life & Another does so a bit more overtly. Album highlight Maybe You Died is a moody wash of uneasy sounds and sentiments that delivers its dark tonality with paradoxically friendly hooks and graceful vocal harmonies. The detail and complexity of Life & Another are no surprise coming from the long line of thoughtfully constructed albums that Birgy has made on the way to this one. Its a new and fantastic chapter in an ongoing body of uncontainable work, one where Birgy has never hesitated to dive into her own psyche and wrestle what she finds there back up to the surface for all to see. ~ Fred Thomas

メロウなスピリチュアルなサウンドを奏でるErin Birgyのソロ・プロジェクト=Mega Bogが6枚目のアルバム「Life, and Another」をリリース。"USインディーの至宝"と名を馳せるBig Thiefのドラマー:James Krivcheniaと、ニューヨークを拠点に活動するHand Habitsとタッグを組み制作した今作は、フォークをベースに一段とスピリチュアル・ポップを極めた1枚に。複数の箇所にピアノや器楽によるジャジーなアレンジで楽曲にアクセントを加えており、より一層浮遊感漂う仕上がりに。彼女の傑出したセンスと二人の同志と共に作り上げた、彼女のキャリア最高傑作になるアーティスティックなアルバムだ。
intoxicate (C)石田真生

前作『Dolphine』も高く評価されたアーティストがジェイムズ・クリヴチェニア(ビッグ・シーフ)の共同制作で6作目を完成。不協和音も飛び出すコードの使い方は奔放さを強調し、矢継ぎ早に展開が変わる曲の構成は音楽理論などのさまざまな定型に囚われまいとするフリーキーさを際立たせる。サイケデリック・ロック、アンビエント、ジャズ、さらにはフォークなど多くの要素を行き来するポップソングたちはキャッチーかつ先鋭的だ。
bounce (C)近藤真弥