A Sky Record

レジェンド、GALAXIE 500の元メンバーからなるインディフォーク・ポップ・デュオ、DAMON AND NAOMIの2021年リリース作『A SKYRECORD』が待望のヴァイナル・リリース!
昨年デジタル & CDリリースさており、PITCHFORK、ROLLING STONE、AQUARIUM DRUNKARD、STEREOGUMなどの音楽メディアから絶賛された作品が 20|20|20 から初のヴァイナル化。ギタリスト栗原ミチオが全面参加しています。

Dreamy indie folk duo Damon & Naomis relationship with Japanese psychedelic institution Ghost stretches back to their first live performances and their immaculate 2000 collaborative album Damon & Naomi with Ghost. The two entities complement each other nicely, with Damon & Naomis hushed beauty weaving into the slightly harder edges of Ghosts softly acid-washed sounds. At some point Ghost guitarist Michio Kurihara became Damon & Naomis unofficial third member, and the three players reactivate their chemistry for A Sky Record. Following a Japanese tour in November of 2019, the three friends entered a studio in Tokyo and recorded the instrumentals that would eventually become A Sky Record. Shortly thereafter, the earliest phases of the COVID-19 lockdown began, and back in the states, Damon & Naomi ruminated on how strange the passing of time felt in quarantine, funneling the uneasiness and stillness of their new reality into the lyrics for these new songs. Opening track Oceans in Between is one of the albums strongest and most straightforward tracks, with Naomi Yang singing simple, graceful melodies with just a hint of sadness over a backdrop of gentle acoustic guitars and glittering electric guitar ornamentation from Kurihara. The doleful Sailing By is similar, with Damon Krukowski singing lead over an instrumental not too far removed from the slow-paced melodic drifting that made Galaxie 500 so captivating. Kuriharas presence sometimes pushes the songs from sleepy reflection into more psychedelic territory. The shadowy Between the Wars is guided by his laser-pointer guitar leads, and album standouts How I Came to Photograph Clouds and The Aftertime are both slow-building anthems of pastoral acid folk, held together by Kuriharas tasteful playing. Damon & Naomis gifts for crafting subtle and atmospheric dream pop have been apparent since their earliest days, but theres a heightened sense of disquiet that flows throughout A Sky Record. Its a unique document of reflections a time that felt suspended, and at points its sadly beautiful atmospheres feel outside of time completely. ~ Fred Thomas

日本でのみフィジカル・リリースされる男女デュオによる6年ぶりのアルバム。その後、スロウコア、ドリーム・ポップと名付けられるサウンドに先鞭をつけたデーモン& ナオミの世界は、さらに研ぎ澄まされた印象だ。フォーク/カントリーに接近しつつ、なかにはソフト・ロックと言えるような楽曲も。栗原みちお(ギター)を迎え、日本で録音した曲もあるそうだ。漣のように広がる感情がじんわりと染みる。
bounce (C)山口智男