Self Explanatory

2018年の『グッド・マン』から約4年ぶり、8枚目のオリジナル・アルバム。
ジェレマイとの先行シングル「ユー・2・ラヴ」、その他「ステイ・ダウン feat. ブルー」、「ドント・ラヴ・ミー」、「ホワット・イフ」、最新曲の「ユー・ガット・ザ・ボディ」収録!

The title of Ne-Yos eighth LP is misleading in a sense. While theres no mistaking Self Explanatory for the work of anyone else, one wouldnt know without following news reports or the singers concurrent interviews that its a pandemic album of sorts. There are no references or even allusions to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was under lockdown in 2020 that Ne-Yos home became a pressure cooker. He and his wife split, considered divorce, and eventually reconciled, remarrying three months before the 2022 release of Self Explanatory. Coming off his least successful album, Good Man, Ne-Yo opted to no longer concern himself with where he fits within the context of commercial R&B, and used his personal circumstances as a source of lyrical inspiration. The sadder songs are most obviously written from immediate first-hand experience. In "Handle Me Gently," rhythmically a plush new jack swing throwback, Ne-Yo admits his faults and desire to make things right. "Dont Love Me" follows it with subtle trap-styled flourishes, but at its core, its an aching and repentant weeper (with some fine falsetto) that only the artist behind "So Sick" and "Fade into the Background" could have written. Despite the sonic contrast between those unequivocally R&B ballads, they could easily be country songs with different production choices. A fair portion of the album alternates between uncertainty, affirmation, and wistful reminiscence. The last of those feelings is most intense on the post-breakup "What If," the only song that hits the dancefloor, but not until after an intro where Ne-Yo delivers one of his highly specific couplets: "Fast forward two years and we were over/Ubered to the airport when I know I shoulda drove you." In a couple other songs -- the spare, winding "After Party" and gently knocking "Call Me Up" -- Ne-Yo flips the script to write from the perspective of a potential homewrecker. Theres a surplus of swagger in those tracks, and in the somewhat displaced slow jam "You Got the Body." The likely unintended alternate meaning of "I got the bag, you got the body" make it ripe for a slasher film. A major soundtrack placement wouldnt prevent this from being considered Ne-Yos most biographical album yet. ~ Andy Kellman

4年ぶりの新作に〈自明〉と掲げたのは、自身の音楽性がすでに説明不要であるから。その言葉通り、リスナーが彼に求めるものを受け取れる一枚となっている。ザップ&エムトゥーメイという大ネタ使いの"U 2 Luv"やニュー・ジャック風の美麗曲"Handle Me Gently"を筆頭に回顧的R&Bを披露しつつ、"What If"などあの"Because Of You"を思わせる4つ打ちナンバーも。何より彼らしい〈美メロ〉な楽曲のクォリティーの高さは明白だ。
bounce (C)池谷瑛子