Open For Business＜限定盤＞

独特過ぎるリズムセクションが徐々に癖になる!

オーストラリアからアメリカのボルチモアへ移住し、2012年から本格的に活動を開始したSMOKE BELLOW。エクスペリメンタル/アヴァンポップを武器に不思議な世界を作ってきた彼等からさらに棘が増した最新作『OPEN FOR BUSINESS』が到着!

これまでのどのSMOKE BELLOW作品よりリズムアプローチが先鋭化!トライバルな匂いがするドラムと細く隙間を埋めるベースの混じり方は、リスペクトするRAINCOATSやTOM TOM CLUBの影響が大!反復を重ねながら電子音やブラスが切り込む部分は片鱗を見せていたSTEREOLAB的オシャレさが一気に爆発!しかし、そこまでフィードバックを感じさせながらSMOKE BELLOW節と言える穏やかさが先人達のダークさとは違う結晶になっているのが面白い!

奇抜さをポップに変えるアーティストが集うTROUBLE IN MIND。レーベルメイトであるNIGHTSHIFT(UK)やWRITHING SQUARESと共にエクスペリメンタル/アヴァンポップの未来を支えていく存在になるのか!?期待!

Thanks to visa issues, Smoke Bellows Meredith McHugh and Christian Best spent a significant chunk of the 2010s oscillating between their homeland of Australia and their chosen home of Baltimore, Maryland. Though the duo settled in the city permanently in 2017, Open for Business is the first album since they made since returning to the States, and the sense of putting down roots extends from its title (a cheeky allusion to a motto coined by Maryland governor Larry Hogan) to its confident eclecticism. Establishing a home base allows McHugh and Bests music to wander further than ever before -- not that their music has ever been stagnant. Each time Smoke Bellow add a new element to their repertoire, it makes a profound difference on their music, whether its the bubbling dub and highlife that punctuated Blooming/Middlings droning motorik or the asymmetrical rhythms that gave Isolation 3000 a loping momentum. On Open for Business, they continue to make percussion the focus with the help of new drummer Emmanuel Nicolaidis, whose expressive fills add mischief and mystery to songs like Fee Fee and Fuck On. Over the course of the album, Smoke Bellows sonic wandering calls to mind the likes of Sacred Paws vibrant African pop-tinged style (Hannan), the clipped spoken-word surrealism of Dry Cleaning (Night Light), and Yo La Tengos velvety ballads (Maybe Something, which highlights the uncanny similarities between McHughs voice and Georgia Hubleys). Theres even a hint of Young Marble Giants minimalist pop in Wrong Size, which turns the phrase you lack the reticence into a surprisingly catchy hook. Though Smoke Bellow will almost certainly appeal to fans of the aforementioned artists, Open for Business underscores the bands originality. Not only are they handily in control of all these different aspects, their music is still more spacious than many of their contemporaries, particularly on the luminous Anniversary or Take the Line for a Walk, which taps into the exploratory warmth of their early days. Their most complete and immediate album yet, with Open for Business, Smoke Bellow have truly arrived. ~ Heather Phares