LP.8

2020年パンデミックのさなかに2ndアルバム『Inner Song』をリリースした彼女はワールドツアーの中止という突然の事態に直面することになった。この時間を使って音楽製作を始めるためオスロに向かい大きな予定を持つことも無く誰にも邪魔されずにスタジオで過ごす機会を得たのです。国境が閉ざされた氷点下の気温の中で彼女は、Merzbow、Sunn O)) 、Jenny Hvalとの仕事で知られるアヴァン・ノイズ界の重鎮Lasse Marhaugと共にスタジオ篭り作品を製作。Throbbing GristleとEnyaの中間の音楽を作ることをコンセプロトにした今作はインダストリアルなサウンドとケルトの神秘的 な音楽を組みわせた緊張と解放の間で揺れ動く作品を作り上げました。

Warping ahead on her own timeline, the follow-up to Kelly Lee Owens second full-length, Inner Song, is titled LP.8. This seems like a necessary way of distinguishing the album from her earlier releases, showing that shes largely moved beyond the trancey techno and downtempo pop she was making before. Working in Oslo with Lasse Marhaug, co-founder of noise group Jazkamer and frequent collaborator with Jenny Hval, Owens sought to make music evoking both Throbbing Gristle and Enya. The opening track is both tough and meditative, with an insistent thump and hissing synths providing a rhythmic framework for vocals that sound like breathing exercises, reinforced by a loop of the songs title, "Release." "Anadlu" is another perspective on the idea of new age industrial, with a startling bass drum sporadically vibrating over sparkling synths, chimes, and spoken vignettes floating in air. The album stays in the ethereal realm for a while, yet there are still elements that prevent the tracks from being as glossy as most new age, like the faint, unsettling rustling underneath "Olga" or the cold starkness of the Harold Budd-like "Nana Piano." "Quickening" taps into a sort of dark magic, as Owens speaks of vitality and energy over a rolling bass drone, static crackle, pinging bells, and eventually richer layers of accordion-like synths and breathy vocals. Coming after this, "One" is an unexpectedly hope-filled ambient pop song, with Owens offering encouraging words such as "you are the one youve waited for" and "everything is possible." "Sonic 8" slams straight into a state of panic, with Owens declaring an emergency over piercing, thudding industrial scuzz, then taunting the listener with the question "What are you going to do about it?" Yet at the same time, she accompanies her warnings with lovely backing vocals. On LP.8, Owens draws from different, seemingly contradictory mystical energies, creating music that challenges and shocks as much as it soothes. ~ Paul Simpson

ウェールズ生まれのケリー・リー・オーウェンスにとってサード・アルバムとなる本作は、スロッビング・グリッスルとエンヤにインスパイアを受けたという。確かに、インダストリアル要素が濃厚なざらざらとしたノイズは前者を、どこか幻惑的な雰囲気が漂う音像と歌声は後者を連想させる。過去作と比べて幅広い層に届く親しみやすさは後退したが、自身の音楽性を拡張しようとするチャレンジングな姿勢は輝かしい魅力だ。
bounce (C)近藤真弥