Unity

For their sixth album, the KVBs Kat Day and Nicholas Wood took inspiration from their time in Spain and the unfinished luxury villas they found there, left abandoned after the financial crisis of the late 2000s. On Unity, however, those structures are symbols of potential, not pessimism. From the concrete forms on the albums cover to the tightly interlocked shoegaze and synth pop within, theres an architectural harmony that suggests that the future could be bright. Beginning with the sweeping synth vistas of Sunrise Over Concrete and Unites sleekly tooled message of bringing people together and closing with Woods command to forget the days we left behind, Unity is held together by a surprising, and winning, optimism. In between, Wood and Days wide embrace of possibilities extends to the different approaches they explore with the help of producer Andy Savours. Of course, the KVB still excel at meshing shoegaze and minimal electronics so effortlessly that they seem made for each other on World on Fire, Unbound, and the aptly sparkling Lumens. However, its just as satisfying to hear them stretch on a song like Future, where Days soulful vocals and taut rhythms build on the moves they made toward the dancefloor on Only Now Forever. This momentum continues on the strutting Blind and Ideal Living, a tense, synthwave-inflected track that marks one of the few times shadows creep into the albums gleaming sound. Rounded out by the clever counterpoint on Structural Index, Unity feels richly varied instead of disjointed, and its a testament to Wood and Days creativity that theyre still finding fresh ways to express themselves this far into their career. ~ Heather Phares

ロンドンをベースとするポスト・パンク・デュオによる7枚目の新作はマイ・ブラッディ・ヴァレンタイン『MBV』のエンジニアを務めたアンディ・サヴァースをプロデューサーに迎えた一枚。音数も幾分控えめで、メロディーやフレーズもよりシンプルに変化。いままで以上にジャーマン・ロックを彷彿させる硬質でミニマルなビートが印象的な作品だ。もちろん要所で鳴るマイブラ風のギターも聴きどころです。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二