Let Yourself Free

If theres one thing Fitz & the Tantrums know how to do its make hooky, pop-soul anthems that feel like commercials for themselves. Its that unabashedly feel-good energy they bring to their fifth album, 2022s Let Yourself Free. Beginning with 2013s More Than Just a Dream, the Los Angeles-based band (led by vocalist Michael Fitzpatrick) has inched further away from the quirky, home-recorded Motown vibe of their debut. The transformation reached its apex with 2016s "Handclap," an inescapable earworm that worked as both a declaration of the bands ability to write a hit and bit of a tongue-in-cheek threat. With Let Yourself Free, they hold on to all of that mainstream pop savvy while still managing to throw things back to their humble D.I.Y. R&B beginnings. Heralded several months prior by the balmy summer single "Sway," the album is the groups best stylistic mix between their early neo-soul style and the slick dance-pop theyve embraced. Of the former, "Silver Platter" and "Steppin on Me" come the closest to recapturing the intimately sweaty, 60s collegiate house-party vibe of the bands debut. These are melodic, swoon-worthy tracks where the warm vocals of singers Fitzpatrick and Noelle Scaggs are doused in springy reverb and spectral R&B guitar accents. We also get the 90s new jack swing intimations of "Is It Love," where Fitzpatrick frames himself with a crooning sea of his own multi-tracked backing vocals like a clone version of Boyz II Men. More in keeping with the groups knack for writing catchy, soundtrack-level pop songs are the funky "Moneymaker," the piano-driven "Heaven," and the synthy, 80s dance-pop romanticism of "Big Love." Fitz & the Tantrums know exactly what they are doing, and Let Yourself Free is a confident, no-apologies pop album that still has soul. ~ Matt Collar

Hand Clapのヒットでお馴染み、LA出身の5人組ポップ/ソウル・バンドによる5作目。フロントマンであるフィッツのソロ作『Head Up High』で顔を合わせたライアン・デイリーがふたたびプロデュースに参加。持ち前のレトロなソウル度が後退して、ポップ度が激アップ。夏がテーマの歌詞とシュガーハイなエネルギーには一瞬戸惑うが、完成度の高いエンタメとして映画や舞台作品のように楽しませてくれる。
bounce (C)村上ひさし