Painless

When London singer/songwriter Nilufer Yanya made her full-length debut following a string of well-received singles and EPs, it was with Miss Universe, an eclectic concept album painted with bold, high-contrast strokes and a few passing moments of intimate impressionism. Three years later, the follow-up, PAINLESS, is a more soft-spoken outing lost in rumination and more-candid emotion. It was recorded with Miss Universe producer Wlima Archer (aka Slime), Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Nick Hakim), indie electronic/art-pop artist Bullion, and musician Jazzi Bobbi, all of whom had a hand in producing. Yanya opens the nonetheless even-keeled album with a rhythmically propulsive meditation on how the linear nature of life and death intertwines with the cyclical passing of seasons ("the dealer"). Its wispy, multi-tracked vocals are set against thumping drums and deep, grooving bass, while harmonized guitar riffs provide the tracks meaty center. The songs relatively straightforward arrangement and mix is later contrasted by songs like "L/R" and "the mystic" that play with stereo effects, and "trouble," which ends in layers of melodic distortion over thumping beats, one of several brief excursions into noise here. The midtempo, rhythmically loping "midnight sun" is a standout for its slowly developing guitar patterns, which provide more of a backbone for the song than its rhythmic section. There is little quality distinction, however, between tracks on an album that remains thoughtful, sonically overcast, and quietly trippy throughout, even on the galloping "stabilize," in which a spookily multi-tracked Yanya repeatedly insists "Im going nowhere" ("until it bleeds"). If PAINLESS is less ambitious and attention-grabbing than her debut, it sees Yanya makes strides in being more affecting. ~ Marcy Donelson

2019年のデビュー・アルバムが英米のメディアに歓迎されたロンドンのトルコ系女性シンガー・ソングライター、ニルファー・ヤンヤによるセカンド・アルバム。冒頭で鳴るコーラスを掛けたアコースティック・ギターのコード・ストロークにヤラれる人は少なくないはずだ。その音色をはじめ、80年代のUKニューウェイヴやネアオコを思わせる曲の数々がヴィジュアルからの先入観をあっさりと打ち破る。トラックメイキングなんて言葉も連想させる今風のポップソングも交えながら、彼女が我々に味わわせるのはタイトルとは裏腹にメランコリーなのだが、その深い陰影の中にチャーミングなメロディーを閃かせるところが彼女の才能なのだろう。甘口すぎない、ちょっとぶっきらぼうな歌声も耳に心地いい。
bounce (C)山口智男