Dancing With The Devil - The Art Of

Dancing with the Devil...The Art of Starting Over is the accompanying album to Dancing with the Devil, a documentary series chronicling Demi Lovatos voyage in recovery. Where the series focused on the past, the album, as its title suggests, is a bit of a rebirth, where Lovato is looking forward to a new phase in their career -- not that Lovato has taken their trauma off the table entirely. The first stretch of The Art of Starting Over tackles their 2018 relapse and subsequent hospitalization, while much of the rest of the record is so bluntly confessional it can play like a journal. Often, this blend of candid soul-baring and hyper-stylized pop can cause a bit of cognitive dissonance; the songs seem built to support emotions a bit frothier than what the lyrics detail. Lovatos frankness is disarming, forcing the listener to reckon with the depths of the singers distinction, yet the album works best when it veers toward lighter territory, letting the slick R&B rhythms and sugared hooks carry Lovatos emoting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

ミレニアル世代の中では歌唱力はダントツだが、どうにも生き下手な印象が強いデミ。薬物ODで生死を彷徨った直前に書かれた感涙バラード"Anyone"で幕を開ける4年ぶりの新作は、冒頭の3曲でまずは悲痛な魂の叫びをぶちまけてから、現在の心情を映し出すソフトで優しいタッチの軽妙なナンバーへと移行する。ポップ&オークやミッチ・アランが手掛けるプロダクションはメロディーとハーモニーが主体で、心地良さが特筆もの。サム・フィッシャー共演曲のみ少々ヘヴィーだが、アリアナ・グランデ、スウィーティー、ノア・サイラスらとは比較的あっさりめ。ついつい200%の勢いで爆進しがちだった彼女だが、控えることを学んだかのようでもあり、彼女が会得した新しい人生観とも重なっている。
bounce (C)村上ひさし