Chris Black Changed My Life

There may not be a more difficult to pin down band in pop music than Portugal. The Man. Led by singer/songwriter John Gourley, the Alaska-born, Portland-based outfit has carved out a distinctive niche on the pop landscape since 2006, exploring a literate, cut-n-paste brand of indie rock thats artfully left of center while still consciously embracing many of the dance, R&B, and electronic traditions that one might expect in modern contemporary pop. Its an eclectic approach that helped make their 2017 album, the 60s psych-influenced Woodstock, and its Grammy-winning single, "Feel It Still," such a surprising breakthrough. Following an extended hiatus, Portugal. The Man have built upon that globally minded, stylistically varied approach with 2023s Chris Black Changed My Life. The album is named after the groups close friend, filmmaker Chris Black, who toured with them in 2016 as a kind of unofficial DJ and hype man, and who died tragically in 2019 just as his career was taking shape. Blacks death, as well as Gourleys own need to decompress and rethink the groups creative direction in the wake of Woodstocks success, found Portugal. The Man taking a long-needed break before reentering the studio. Thankfully, the time away finds them recharged. Produced with Jeff Bhasker (the musical polymath behind projects for Mark Ronson, Kanye West, Fun., and others), Chris Black Changed My Life is just as musically open-minded as its predecessor, full of fizzy anthems that feel like the band are spinning through their cars radio dial on a hot summers day. Theres the groovy "Grim Generation," with its opening lyrical nod to Gary Wrights 1971 classic "Dream Weaver," that sounds like the Archies remixed by Danger Mouse. We also get "Summer of Luv," a slinky collaboration with New Zealands Unknown Mortal Orchestra, replete with soul-jazz saxophone, that brings to mind something along the lines of Beck jamming with Kamasi Washington. Yet more woozy psych-pop atmospheres pop up elsewhere, as on "Thunderdome [W.T.A.]," a folky, hip-hop-infused jam featuring the Roots Black Thought and Mexican vocalist Natalia Lafourcade. Still, there are shadows that come with all this pop sun, and Portugal. The Man sink into several moody, if not less catchy, goths-at-the-beach-style anthems with "Dummy" and "Plastic Island," songs that seem to speak to the bands grief over Blacks death and Gourleys wry sense of irony over his own social anxiety. On "Dummy" he sings, "Way my phone is ringing/Paint a tunnel on the wall/Escape before the anvil falls/Gotta keep it moving/Gotta pick up the groove and let go/Everyone I know/Is running from the afterlife." With Chris Black Changed My Life, Portugal. The Man have crafted a warm and hooky homage to their friend; its a vibe that sticks with you. ~ Matt Collar

90sエモを出自とするポートランドの6人組が大胆にR&B/ファンクの要素を取り入れて作り上げたサイケでソウルフルな9枚目のアルバム。ゴージャスという言葉が相応しい曲の多彩さはアンノウン・モータル・オーケストラ他、ゲストの顔ぶれから推して知るべし。エドガー・ウィンターやポール・ウィリアムズという超ヴェテランの起用も奇想天外な作風にハマっている。
bounce (C)山口智男