Small World＜Black Vinyl＞

アルバム発表の度にサウンドの進化を遂げるメトロノミー、約3年ぶりとなる7thアルバム!

2020年、コロナ禍で制作を開始した本作は"シンプルな喜びや自然への回帰、より洗練されたソングライター的なサウンドを一部に取り入れながら、より広範な実存的な問いかけ"をテーマにしている。バンドのリーダー、ジョー・マウントのソングライター、アレンジャー、プロデューサーとしての能力が発揮された作品に仕上がっている。

Unlike many artists who made music inspired by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Metronomys Joe Mount didnt write songs driven by the eras political climate or the blurry times spent in lockdowns. Instead, on Small World he uses the craving for familiarity, comfort, and optimism sparked by the pandemic as a starting point for sunny-sounding songs that manage to find some deeper truths in what initially seem like platitudes. Mount may be in an even more philosophical mood than he was on Metronomys previous album, Metronomy Forever. Where that album was a sprawling mix of reflective pop songs and synth experiments that made for unpredictable and sometimes uneven listening, this time Mount does more with less. At a trim nine songs, Small World is just over half the size of Metronomy Forever and keeps the focus firmly on Mounts songwriting skills. Though his talents as a producer often overshadow his lyrics, memorable and affecting songs have been a part of Metronomys DNA since Nights Out, and Small World features some of the most engaging songs of Mounts career. "Things Will Be Fine" looks back on teenage angst with the kind of hope that comes from experience and plenty of strummy, good-natured hooks; "Its Good to Be Back" is even more deceptively cheery, pitting bubbly choruses against verses that arent quite so certain. Its a technique Metronomy also uses cleverly on "Right on Time," a song that overcomes its doubts with fizzy, disco-tinged refrains that stop just short of cloying. In keeping with the renewed focus on songwriting, Small Worlds production and arrangements are restrained and often surprisingly classic, though not stiflingly so; the lush musings of "Life and Death" are Mounts version of a vintage singer/songwriter ballad, but the tinny drum machine pinning them down is pure Metronomy. The emphasis on strings of all kinds -- acoustic, electric, and bowed -- makes for a refreshingly grounded feel on songs like "Loneliness on the Run," which finds contentment in small things over ambling chord changes that recall Badly Drawn Boy, and gives a heady thrill to "Hold Me Tonight," a duet with Porridge Radio that packs a rom-coms worth of meet cutes and happy endings into its bouncy riffs and giddy strings. In some ways, Small World is the pop album Metronomy have always been capable of making, and in others, it subverts expectations. Writing happy songs that arent annoying is a tall order, but Mount and company pull it off with enough flair to make Small World a satisfying microcosm of Metronomys music. ~ Heather Phares

2020年にコロナ禍の最中で制作を開始したという7枚目のアルバム。〈この2年で口にされるもっともくだらない決まり文句〉というシニカルな着想から生まれたという"It's Good To Be Back"をはじめ、シンセを駆使したダンサブルにして刺激的な楽曲群はジョー・マウントをソングライターとしてのさらなる洗練と熟練へと導いている。時代との距離感を測りながら自身の表現を貫いた意欲作と言えそうだ。
bounce (C)香椎 恵