Queens of the Summer Hotel

海外メディアから"この世代で最も優れたソングライターの一人"と絶賛される現代最高峰の女性シンガー・ソングライター=エイミー・マンの4年振りとなる2021年最新アルバム『Queens of the Summer Hotel』アナログ盤。
スザンナ・ケイセンの自伝にインスパイアされた全15曲収録。この新作では、彼女の長年のコラボレーターであるポール・ブライアンがオーケストレーションを担当。

Not long after Aimee Mann released Mental Illness in 2017, she agreed to provide the songs for a musical adaptation of Girl, Interrupted, the 1993 memoir by Susanna Kaysen that was turned into an Oscar-winning film by James Mangold in 1999. The theatrical production was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, so Mann decided to turn her compositions into Queens of the Summer Hotel, her tenth solo album. Working once again with producer Paul Bryan -- the pair have collaborated ever since 2006s One More Drifter in the Snow -- Mann turns these theatrical tunes into a richly textured record, one that is deep in feeling and controlled in execution. Queens of the Summer Hotel does proceed with the deliberate momentum of a play, opening with the hushed hurry of You Fall, winding its way through brief interludes and asides, reaching an emotional peak partway through with the stark, resonant Suicide Is Murder, then settling on the bittersweet denouement of I See You. Much of the album is given supple, sympathetic orchestrations that feel as intimate as the occasional number containing little more than a piano and voice, the two complementary arrangements giving the album the air of confessions being shared in confidence. Despite its contemplative nature, Queens of the Summer Hotel looks outward -- these were songs designed for the stage, after all. The combination of the airiness of the arrangements and the warmth of Manns performance is wistfully hopeful, turning Queens of the Summer Hotel into a record that soothes and consoles during moments of uncertainty. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

映画「17歳のカルテ」の原作であるスザンヌ・ケイセンの自伝を基に作られた10作目。歌っている内容やタイトルの〈サマー・ホテル〉が何を意味するかは推して知るべし。その意味では彼女の真骨頂と言えそうだが、音楽的には前作の延長とも言える室内楽的なポップ・サウンドをさらに追求。緊張感のなかに温もりを感じさせるメロディーを歌う彼女の歌声と共に円熟味を印象づけている。その聴き応えは満点だ。
bounce (C)山口智男