Flicker

With 2020s The View from Halfway Down, Andy Bell finally stepped out as a solo artist after more than 30 years as an alt-rock visionary and one of shoegazes key pathfinders. As one of the driving songwriting forces in Ride, Bell possessed a one-of-a-kind knack for dreamy harmonies and distorted, psychedelic guitars that could somehow convey a wide range of emotions. With his first work under his own name, Bell sounded revitalized and inspired, blending his talent for lush hooks, reverb-coated melodies, and ambient experiments with touches of the electronic sounds he explored as a DJ and with his Glok side project. Second solo album Flicker is an even more inspired display of Bells songwriting range, with 18 tracks that move fluidly through various moods and styles as they trace a line from the artists past to where he is now. Much of the material here was the result of Bell revisiting unfinished recording sessions and song ideas that hed been hanging on to since as far back as the 90s. This meeting of older ideas and new experiences comes through especially boldly on tracks like the dizzy, carefree "World of Echo" and in the melancholic jangle of "Something Like Love." The open acoustic guitar chords, contemplative tone, and soft string-like sounds of "Something Like Love" make the song sound like a continuation of Rides 1990 signature track "Vapour Trail," only transmitting from a wiser, more considerate perspective. Theres groove-laced fuzz rock on the danceable "It Gets Easier," Spacemen 3-styled mutant blues on the droning "No Getting Out Alive," gentle introspective pop on "She Calls the Tune," and jaunty 60s-informed psychedelia on the hazy "Love Is the Frequency." Even as the songs traverse different styles, theyre all held together by Bells distinctive tight vocal harmonies and his myriad of layered guitar tones. Flicker flows nicely between its modes, landing on introspective acoustic numbers like the Bryter Lyter-recalling instrumental "When the Lights Go Down" without feeling like too sharp of a turn from everything that came before it. He even bizarrely works in a few seconds of the instantly recognizable Sleng Teng riddim into the beginning of the otherwise decidedly non-reggae "Holiday in the Sun" and then proceeds without derailment as if it never happened. Bell wanders through his past while firmly rooted in the now throughout Flicker, with songs repeatedly referencing memories and growing up without retreating too far into nostalgia. It all comes together as a beautiful and honest reflection on self-acceptance and the passing of time. Bell invites us into the deeper reaches of his perpetual but ever-evolving dream state, and in the process creates some career-best highlights. ~ Fred Thomas

初ソロ作から1年半ぶりとなる2作目。前作『The View From Halfway Down』のサイケとジャーマン・ロックを合わせたかのような内容には良い意味で驚かされたが、今回はサイケな感覚は保ちつつ、アコギとエレキ・ギターを中心にしたメロディアスなフォーク・ロックが十二分に楽しめ、本隊のライドやビーディ・アイなどのサウンドをそのまま想起させる。まさに彼の本領が発揮された、英国ロック好きにはたまらない作品だ。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二