Lately I Feel Everything＜Colored Vinyl＞

Brushing genre boundaries aside once again, multi-hyphenate Willow Smith makes another stylistic pivot on her fourth studio album Lately I Feel Everything. Having excelled on her R&B, pop, and alternative singer/songwriter forays, Willow straps on a guitar for this potent rock blast that bridges pop-punk and 90s alt-rock with an unpolished messiness that is unapologetic, youthful, and a pure thrill. Initially thought to be a purely pop-punk exercise, Lately reveals itself as something more moody and angsty, the cathartic outburst of a young artist letting off some steam in a crazy world where she has to navigate regular human emotions and relationship woes against a backdrop of fame and privilege. Those darker moments -- Dont Save Me, Naive, and Lipstick being the best of the bunch -- are a time warp to the 90s, when distorted guitars, crunchy riffs, and atmospheric swirls dredged up plenty of anxiety, pain, and confusion. The lush rocker 4ever links Willows eras, sounding like an introspective outtake from The 1st backed by a studio band. In addition to guests Ayla Tesler-Mabe, Tierra Whack, and Cherry Glazerr, Willow recruits a pair of famous genre predecessors to inject some cred to this project with their high-profile co-signs. As the go-to drummer for the 2020s crop of pop-punk revivalists (see Yungblud, MGK, and KennyHoopla), Travis Barker lends his trademark delivery on a trio of tracks, including the hit single Transparent Soul and album standout Grow, a bright romp that features pop-punk big sister Avril Lavigne on vocals. That latter track is worth the price of admission alone, but the rest of this brief set is such an unexpected surprise that its worth the nearly half-hour investment. There seems to be nothing that Willow cant do as she adds rock to her resume with ease. ~ Neil Z. Yeung

Will Smithの実娘、Willow SmithによるWILLOW名義、通算4作目のアルバム。トップを飾る《trans parent soul》はblink-182のTravis Barkerを迎えた楽曲。MVでの黒を基調としたゴシックロックな装いとは対照的に、自らを取り巻く環境、そして自分自身と向き合う迷いのない歌詞と透明感のあるエモ/ポップパンクなサウンドが、このアルバムの道程を眩ゆく照らしている。初期の作品ではR&Bな楽曲が多かったものの、近年ではTyler ColeとのTHE ANXIETY名義による活動でも顕著な、彼女のルーツでもあるパンクライクな音楽性が光る。自由で瑞々しさに満ちた一枚。
intoxicate (C)伊藤博明