Dear Wormwood

テキサス出身で現在はインディ・フォーク/フォーク・ロック・シーンで支持を集める兄妹デュオTHE OH HELLOS。セルフ・リリース作品を軸に、豊かなコーラスとダイナミックなバンド・アレンジを組み合わせたサウンドで、新世代フォークの代表格のひとつとして知られます。

2012年作『THROUGH THE DEEP, DARK VALLEY』に続く2015年作は、英文学の古典を下敷きにしながら、一人の語り手が一人の相手に宛てて書く一連の手紙というコンセプトで構成された作品。前作が主人公の過去の罪悪感や自己認識を掘り下げていたのに対し、本作では壊れかけた関係からの離脱や、自分の未来をどう選び直すかという視点に焦点を移し、リスナーはその書簡のやり取りを傍から見守る立場として物語に同伴する形になっています。

ストリングスとコーラスがまさに序章のようにゆっくりと広がる"PRELUDE"、トライバルなリズムと高揚するサビでライヴ定番となった"BITTER WATER"、静かなギターのアルペジオと歌声が夜明け前の空気感を描く小品"IN THE BLUE HOURS OF MORNING"、ミニマルなパターンから一気に合唱へと広がる"SOLDIER, POET, KING"など、楽曲ごとに強いフックを持ちながらも、アルバム全体では一人の心の変化を丁寧に追う構成。豊かな合唱とフォーク・ロックのダイナミクスを活かしつつ、言葉の重みと編曲の緩急でコンセプト・アルバムとしてのまとまりをしっかり保っています。

物語性の強い歌詞と合唱の力で、フォーク以降のロックをドラマティックに聴かせる一枚です。

On their second album, Dear Wormwood, the Heath siblings and their jolly band of musical merry-makers return with a rousing set inspired by C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. In that 1942 novel, the titular devil Screwtape composes a series of missives to Wormwood, a young demon-in-training, instructing him how to corrupt a young man. Temptation and corruption are the dangers here, as the young Christian band uses voice and song to rebuke demons similar to those hard at work in Lewis' seminal book. From the thumping heartbeat of the opening "Prelude" to the barn-burning closer "Thus Always to Tyrants," the Oh Hellos deal song after song of theatrics soundtracked by a plucky backwoods twang. Throughout the album's journey, the band transports the listener to another time and other places: a lazy river, a field of wildflowers at dawn, a woodland glen surrounded by fireflies. The imagery is as rich for the imagination as it is for the ears. Sometimes overwhelming, their pure energy is best witnessed at their live shows, when the stage becomes home to a multitude of instrumentalists fitting for a good old hoedown. This passion is especially palpable on Irish pub jam "Soldier Poet King." Such celebratory tracks full of "whoa-oh!"s and simultaneous instrument-bashing ("Bitter Water," "Exeunt") are balanced by others aimed to give listeners a rest. Standouts like "Caesar" (a haunting dirge that recalls the most vulnerable Sufjan Stevens) and "Pale White Horse" (highlighting Maggie Heath's best Joanna Newsom) are overwhelming not in their power, like many tracks on this album, but in the deliberate buildup and tension. Thus, the album becomes most rewarding when experienced as a single listen, when transitions, like the one from "Pale White Horse" into the explosive "Where Is Your Rider," can truly be appreciated. On the title track, the Oh Hellos (all of them) declare in a wall of voices, "I know who you are now/I name you my enemy/I know who I am now/I want to be more than this devil inside of me," closing with an exuberant and triumphant cry to the heavens. Although Screwtape starts each of his missives with "Dear Wormwood," the Oh Hellos flip things around and shout at that novice devil: he cannot have their souls. It's a subtle expression of their evangelical devotion, allowing the sheer power of the music and lyrics to carry their message without turning away fans of secular music. These songs are heavy on the drama, but the conviction with which the band delivers each one borders on glorious rapture. ~ Neil Z. Yeung