Spanish Villager No:3

グラミー賞にノミネートされたシンガー・ソングライター、オンダラの3枚目のスタジオ・アルバムが登場。

このアルバムのタイトルにもなっているThe Spanish Villagerは、強烈なメッセージを持つ謎めいたキャラクターで、オンダラが書いた短編小説の題材となり、グラフィック・ノベルとなり、そして今回、新しいアルバムとして完成した。

アルバムは、OndaraとMike Viola(Jenny Lewis, Dan Wilson)がプロデュースし、DawesのTaylor GoldsmithとGriffin Goldsmith、Sebastian Steinberg, Tim Kuhland Jeremy Staceyが参加。このSpanish Villager(スペインの村)というキャラクターについて、オンダラは次のように語っている。「彼は私が最も暗かった時期に形成され、命を得た彼は、私の旅と私が移り住んだこの新しい世界について持っていた不安のすべてを心に抱いていました」。さらにこのアルバムについて、Ondaraは次のように語る。「私はいつも、真夜中に暗闇をガイドとして、ミューズの潜在意識の本能に任せて歩いているような気がします。そうやって、一歩一歩進んでいったのが、このプロジェクトです。まとめて考えると、このプロジェクト全体はひとつの叙事詩であり、自分の内側と外側の世界を潜在意識下で探求したものだといます」

『Spanish Villager No:3』は、2020年の2ndアルバム『Folk N' Roll Vol 1: Tales of Isolation』と2019年のデビューアルバム『Tales of America』に続く作品で、発表後は広く賞賛され、62thグラミー賞ではBest Americana Albumにノミネート、Ondaraも2019 Americana AwardsのBest Emerging Actにノミネートされている。

At the start of Ondaras third album, 2022s wry and effusive Spanish Villager No. 3, he sings, "Look now what Ive become, someone from another space and time." Its from the opening track, "An Alien in Minneapolis," and could very easily describe how the Kenya-born, Minneapolis-based singer/songwriter sees himself over two albums and a Grammy-nomination into his career. However, while the album is certainly born out of his own unique life experience, its actually written in the guise of the titular character, an alter-ego of Ondaras that first populated a short story, then a graphic novel, and now an album. Theres a bigger, more robust playfulness to Ondaras work here, as if hes trying to push beyond the folky troubadour sound that made him famous. Where 2020s Folk n Roll was recorded quickly, just after the singer went into isolation during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Spanish Villager is a lush recording, full of vibrant piano, guitar, and even brass flourishes. It was produced with the singers longtime collaborator Mike Viola and benefits from musical contributions by Dawes Taylor Goldsmith and Griffin Goldsmith as well as instrumentalists Sebastian Steinberg, Tim Kuhl, and Jeremy Stacey. Theres a warm lyricism to many of the songs, with Ondaras rich tenor framed in shimmering guitars and insistent percussion grooves. Its an evocative sound that brings to mind the work of classic artists like Paul Simon, David Byrne, and Fleetwood Mac, all of which makes sense given that Ondara toured alongside Macs Lindsey Buckingham prior to the pandemic. Still, there are deeply poetic and political ideas at play on the album as Ondara further explores themes of dislocation, identity, and how the American dream often eludes and fails immigrants. Much of the album plays as an odd travelog, a "Contrarian Odyssey," as he sums it up with the final song. He moves through various cities, as on the hooky acoustic anthem "A Blackout in Paris" and the yearningly romantic, organ-accented "A Drowning in Mexico." Theres an imagistic quality to his writing, marked by vignettes that symbolize a world on the brink and people struggling just to get by. This leads up to the cinematic "A Prophet of Doom," in which democracy is literally "on the line" and Ondara asks, "Are you racking up a debt, cutting wood in Afghanistan?" Later, he ponders a fated escapism, singing "Take some time off, ride a bicycle, take a sabbatical, pet your animal/Put your finger in a socket, and watch it all blowing up." Thankfully, humor and Ondaras knack for referencing pop culture iconography keep things from getting too bleak. On the twangy, Elvis Costello-esque "A Suspicious Deliverance," he defines the dark irony of his world view, singing "Like the Greeks of ancient/Reaching a trepidation/Look at the movie star/Look at him Captain Picard/Show me an observation/Of a better civilization." Perhaps Spanish Villager No. 3 is Ondaras call for that better civilization. Its also a boldly transformative pop album. ~ Matt Collar