Motorheart (Deluxe)

Months after the release of their presciently titled sixth album, Easter Is Cancelled, the holiday was indeed put on hold by a global pandemic and the Darkness, along with the rest of the world, entered lockdown. During the ensuing quarantine, the quartet recorded another album, the quick burst of Motorheart. Inspired by AC/DC and Guns N Roses, the set also makes nods to Van Halen and Motley Crue, packed to the brim with riffs and the bands signature brand of winking humor. A slim nine tracks, it doesnt dwell on anything deeper than base desires or simple pleasures, providing a fun and bombastic release that plays on their strengths as technically proficient but debauched jesters of the U.K. rock world. Standouts include the monstrous Motorheart, an arena-imploding ode to a sex robot; the rollicking Nobody Can See Me Cry; and the synth-washed groover Speed of the Nite Time, a nice change of pace for the band that finds them taking a more polished approach to their 80s worship. The rest of the set doesnt stray too much from the formula: even when the bagpipes show up on Welcome Tae Glasgae, Motorheart is all riffs and falsetto screams designed to forget reality and dream of crowds packed with headbanging, beer-soaked hedonists singing along to the same songs. ~ Neil Z. Yeung

ゴージャスに煌めくギターと大上段に振りかぶったジャスティンのヴォーカル……笑っちゃうほどのダークネス節にのっけから魅了される。全英TOP10に返り咲いた前作『Easter Is Cancelled』から2年、これが通算7枚目のアルバムだ。今風のヘヴィネスとは異なるハードで絢爛な炎のロックンロールが惜しげもなく開陳され、緩急自在な疾走感で盛り上がってるうちにすぐ一周してしまう。なかでも"Nobody Can See Me Cry"が最高!
bounce (C)轟ひろみ