United States Of The Broken Hearted

独自の作風と唯一無二の歌声で魅了する吟遊詩人
ジェブ・ロイ・ニコルズによる最新アルバム。
プロデュースは盟友エイドリアン・シャーウッド!

〈On-U Sound〉率いるエイドリアン・シャーウッドの長年の友人であり、レーベルメイトでもあるジェブ・ロイ・ニコルズ。レゲエ、カントリー、フォーク、ジャズ、ソウルなど様々な音楽的要素を取り入れた作風でコアな音楽ファンからの支持を集め、映画「グッド・ウィル・ハンティング」への楽曲提供でも話題を呼んだ彼が、最新アルバム『United States Of The Broken Hearted』 をリリース。本作では盟友エイドリアン・シャーウッドがプロデュースを手がけ、アコースティックな美しい12曲を丁寧なアレンジで仕立て上げている。また、アルバムには、ここ日本ではコーネリアスとの共作でも知られるプライマル・スクリームのキーボディスト、マーティン・ダフィや、ホレス・アンディやリー・ペリーの作品にも参加するイヴァン・ハシーらが参加している。

American-born, Wales-based singer/songwriter Jeb Loy Nichols reteams with producer and longtime friend Adrian Sherwood on United States of the Broken Hearted. The pair have been friends and collaborators for 40 years and they last worked together on Nichols excellent Long Time Traveller. This set was birthed from a conversation about Gram Parsons "Cosmic American Music" concept, wherein its wide variety of genres inform one another in a uniquely American sound. Nichols wrote nine of these 12 songs; three others are American folk standards from Woody Guthrie ("Deportees"), Sarah Ogan Gunning ("I Hate the Capitalist System"), and Red Hayes & Jack Rhodes ("Satisfied Mind"). This album reflects Nichols American homeland where internal conflicts are tearing the nation apart. "Monsters on the Hill" commences with dubwise horns, a bass, kick drum, and acoustic six-string; the beat walks between classic country two-step and dread reggae shuffle. Nichols speaks to fellow Americans: "Were so small, were so terrible and tiny, we dont learn, and I dont think we ever will .... " "Big Troubles Come in Through a Small Door" recalls Terry Calliers early recordings as Nichols, accompanied by Ivan "Celloman" Husseys skittering instrument and bass, frames piano, guitar, muted trumpet, and brushed snare. Wedding noir-ish jazz to reggae and blues, he sings of lives on the brink: "In a world full of competition/Life is a gun full of ammunition/And as your hopes and dreams get bigger/Itll stick you up and pull the trigger...." Ogan Gunnings union-organizing anthem "I Hate the Capitalist System" is offered plaintively and poignantly with fingerpicked acoustic guitars and tender support vocals from reggae legend Ghetto Priest. "What Does a Man Do All Day" contrasts the animal and human worlds amid steamy reggae, mercurial jazz piano, and punchy acoustic guitars, while dubwise horns and urgent cello paint the margins. The gorgeous title track owes a debt to Curtis Mayfield. Its sweet, sad, wise, and poignant; a soulful paean to those deliberately overlooked, discounted, and maligned. The breezy "Ive Enjoyed as Much of the Good Life (As I Can Take)" joins lithe acoustic guitars, cello, and a snare/hi-hat shuffle as Nichols protagonist decides to walk away from a darkness imposed by the media and virtual realities for a simpler, directly experiential life. The reading of Guthries "Deportees" is made ingenious by Sherwood. He considers and updates topical folk music for the 21st century, while Nichols comments on the immigrant struggle through a first person protagonist. "Looking for Some Rain" is a loose soul tune that owes a debt to Curtis Mayfield, musically and lyrically. Nichols delivery is laid-back and breezy. Sherwood adds reverb to harmonica over a honky tonk piano and a B-3 framing funky guitars. Nichols and Sherwood are a nearly symbiotic team on United States of the Broken Hearted. They allow the songs to dictate what they need, then treat them so lyric, melody, and meaning are related directly atop instinctive, and often gorgeous, uncluttered accompaniment. This is a high-water mark for both men. ~ Thom Jurek