A Beautiful Time

その時、美しく。ウィリー・ネルソンの最新作『ア・ビューティフル・タイム』

ウィリー・ネルソンの89歳の誕生日である4月29日に発売される72作目のスタジオ・アルバム『ア・ビューティフル・タイム』。昨年は、シナトラへのオマージュ的な『ザッツ・ライフ』、ネルソン家が集った『ザ・ウィリー・ネルソン・ファミリー』という企画的作品が続いたが、今作はウィリー本来のカントリー・テイスト溢れるヴォーカル・アルバムとなった。
死する運命に対してウィリーならではの思慮深く穏やかな視線が注がれた儚くも美しい歌が並び、プロデューサーであるバディ・キャノンとの共作5曲に加え、レノン=マッカートニー作「ウィズ・ア・リトル・ヘルプ・フロム・マイ・フレンド」、レナード・コーエンの「タワー・オブ・ソング」等の味わい深い名曲をウィリー節でカバー。音楽を聴く喜びや楽しさをさまざまな形で感じさせてくれるポップ・カントリーな歌が並ぶ最新作だ。

Mortality hangs heavily on A Beautiful Time, as perhaps it should. The album came out on April 29, 2022, a day thats otherwise known as Willie Nelsons 89th birthday, and it arrived roughly two months after the death of his sister Bobbie, who played alongside him for the better part of 40 years. A Beautiful Time was recorded long before Bobbies passing, with Buddy Cannon -- the producer who has been Willies regular collaborator since 2012, when he returned to Sony/Legacy with Heroes -- supervising sessions that feature musicians whove been regulars on Nelsons albums over the last decade. All of this means A Beautiful Time is very much of a piece with the records that immediately proceed it, albums that also feature Nelson pondering mortality, yet theres a sense of earned wisdom and wry humor that elevates it above such elegantly mellow records as First Rose of Spring. Some of this sensibility derives from how Nelson doesnt shy away from the inevitable, singing about death directly: the opener, co-written by Chris Stapleton and Rodney Crowell, is called "Ill Love You Til the Day I Die" and he later sings "I Dont Go to Funerals," delivering the punchline "and I wont go to mine" with a shrug. "I Dont Go to Funerals" is one of several fine originals by Nelson and Cannon, a batch that includes the remarkable "Energy Follows Thought," a meditative and cautionary tale of acting upon rash impulse. These weightier numbers are balanced by such lighter moments as the warm nostalgia of "My Heart Was a Dancer" and "Were Not Happy (Til Youre Not Happy)," a wickedly funny portrait of playing poker with Willie. Appropriately for an album fixated on mortality, Nelson embraces his diminished vocal range, letting his breathiness convey bittersweet sentiment along with dry wit. His dusty singing is countered by his robust guitar, his fleet, melodic solos lending a sense of earthy grace to the barroom shuffles and waltzes. Nelsons guitar and voice have intertwined and complemented each other throughout his career yet its still a marvel to hear him find sustenance and surprises within his music, and thats what makes A Beautiful Time so rewarding: its no small achievement that Willie Nelson is still deepening his artistry at the age of 89. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine