これまでマーキュリー・プライズにノミネートされたNadine ShahやSons Of KemetやPolar Bearsなどにも参加し、"UKニュー・ジャズ・ウェーヴのゴッドファーザー"との異名を持つサックス奏者/ソングライターPete Wareham率いるUKジャズにおける異色のニュー・ジャズ・バンド、Melt Yourself Downが2年ぶりとなる待望のニュー・アルバムをDECCAから発表!

Kushal Gaya(vo)とPete Wareham(sax,key,vo)を中心にGeorge Crowley(ts,vo),Ruth Goller(b,vo),Adam Betts(ds,vo),Zands Duggan(perc,vo)によるバンド演奏をBen Hillier(Nadine Shah, Depeche Modeなど)がプロデュース。
このアルバムは、パンク、ロック、ジャズではなく、ジャンル的に「オルタナティブ」としているが、これらのジャンルを敬遠したいわけではなく、バンドの歴史やストーリーを考えると、特にジャズに傾倒する必要があることをご理解ください。
本作に関するバンドからのコメントは以下。(このようにして生まれました。)
"自分たちが適合しないことを、弱点ではなく強みと捉えることを学びます。私たちは典型的なタイプに適合しません-あまりにも長い間、これは問題のように感じられてきました。マーケティングは原型に依存していますが、詩やアートは原型を利用することに依存しています。ミュージシャンとして、私たちはマーケティングに対処しなければなりませんが、私たちは「私たちは適合しません」「私たちは隙間にいます」「私たち自身以外の誰にもリプリゼンされていません」と言う機会があるのです。"

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2021/12/13）

Though closely aligned with the British jazz scene, Englands Melt Yourself Down have carved out a singular jagged space in the uncharted stylistic terrain that exists between vanguard jazz, post-punk, Afrobeat, post-punk funk, and various African musics. Arguably, Pray for Me I Dont Fit In best illustrates their place on that periphery. 2020s 100% Yes deserved accolades for its jagged, abrupt take on musical eclecticism, zig-zagging across styles and genres from moment to moment. This set is more focused and holistic yet sounds simultaneously more unhinged. Produced by Ben Hillier (Blur), the sextet all but forsake jazz here, as saxist/bandleader/arranger Pete Wareham delves deeply into skronky, hooky, formally constructed songs with half-sung/half-shouted English-language vocals by Mauritian frontman/guitarist Kushal Gaya. Everything here seems to be led by canny bassist Ruth Gollers exceptionally solid, rhythmically unshakeable riffs. The band hone their propulsively anarchic rhythm core into a spicy aural gumbo of aggressive, knife-edged precision. They weave effects-heavy live drums and percussion via hyperkinetic electronic beats and industrial production. In the opening title track, a filthy, rumbling bassline meets double-timed drums, Gayas chanted vocals, and Warehams sideways sax playing. Synths and loops frame an Afro-Latin carnival groove that roars, then circles back on itself. "Boots of Leather" emerges with a shambolic post-punk vamp, but when the singing stops, stabbing horns, crunchy bass, and hard-swinging drums and percussion careen into mutant Afrobeat. Both "For Real" and "Nightsiren" dig into grinding, industrial, punk-funk -- more A Certain Ratio than Rick James -- while weaving a rhythmic bond from dubwise North African rhythms. Warehams squalling horn underscores each of Gayas sung lines in the former before a post-punk breakdown in the bridge claims the fore. The latters appeal lies in its triple-timed collision of reverbed electro, Borbetomagus-esque sax skronk, and interlocking organic and synthetic drums. "Fun Fun Fun" roils out of the gate with a punchy, rubbery bassline, swinging Afrobeat horns, and fingerpopping loops above clattering drums. The bands jazz roots pop out momentarily in the pointillistic horn-and-bass interplay on "Sunset Flip," while Wareham delivers an atonal mini-solo that almost dislocates the core vamp on "Balance." The intro to "Ghost on the Run" sounds like an outtake from Konono No. 1 until the horns borrow the sliver of Tower of Power funk template and these grooves become dangerous and sinister. The powerful brass overtone honks challenge Gaya for dominance. The band careens across sharpened Afrobeat, synthy industrial rock, and loopy post-punk exploding the tune into an orgy of rhythm, noise, and overtones. For all of its incendiary music, furious soundscapes, and rhythmic madness, Pray for Me is beautifully produced, mischievously strategized, and expertly performed. ~ Thom Jurek

Rovi