Cracker Island＜限定盤/Magenta Vinyl＞

Cracker Island marks something of a retreat for Gorillaz, moving the virtual group away from the excess of The Song Machine, a multi-part series of collaborations that sometimes threatened to collapse upon its own weight. Guests are still featured on Cracker Island -- collaboration is one of the chief reasons Damon Albarn launched the group at the dawn of the millennium -- but he sticks with Greg Kurstin and Remi Kabaka, Jr. as his main collaborators, giving the record an appealingly streamlined feel. Another element lending the album a sleek, unified vibe is how the guests are effectively used as extra texture. Bad Bunny may dominate the vibrant "Tormenta," but hes the exception to the rule: Stevie Nicks gives "Oil" a hint of harmony, and Tame Impala sets "New Gold" adrift in a neo-psychedelic haze, while Beck fades into the background of "Possession Island." All this means is that Damon Albarn is at the center of Cracker Island, a shift that underscores how the record is less an exploration of new sonic territory as it is a reaffirmation of his strengths. Balancing bright, colorful electro-pop with a slight air of melancholy is hardly a new trick for Albarn, yet theres a clean, efficient energy propelling Cracker Island that gives the album a fresh pulse. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

オムニバス感のある〈Song Machine〉シリーズを中断(?)して再度コンセプチュアルな作風に回帰した3年ぶりのニュー・アルバム。スティーヴィー・ニックスやバッド・バニー、テーム・インパラ、サンダーキャットら豪華ゲスト個々のパフォーマンスはもちろん大きな聴きどころながら、全体的にカリブ～アフロ系のビートやダビーな感触が作中を覆っているため、サウンド自体にもいつも以上の統一感が生まれている印象だ。リズムとの相性もあってか『Lodger』期のボウイを連想させるデーモンの枯れた歌声もいい。カルト宗教という題材は刺激的だが、宗教そのものがテーマというよりは、他人の価値観を受容しなくなる状態が描かれているわけで、その意味では誰にでも当てはまる皮肉な問題提起なのかもしれない。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ