Natural Disaster

LAの至宝!Best Coastのベサニーによるソロ・デビューアルバム
活動休止中のLAが誇る良質インディーロックバンドBest Coastのベサニー・コンセンチノによる初のソロ作品。本体でのサーフ/西海岸サウンドを踏襲したキャッチーで瑞々しいバンドサウンドから、ぐっと伝統的なアメリカン・ミュージックに接近。伸びやかなベサニーの歌声とどこか懐かしさが込み上げてくる壮大なメロディが最高に心地良い!切なくも清々しい絶品サウンドが、夕陽が鮮やかに沈みゆくような情景を呼び起こし、感動的な気分に浸れます!

ベスト・コーストのボーカル、べサニー・コセンティーノのソロ・デビュー・アルバム

■ベスト・コーストは無期限の休止期間に入ることをアナウンス
■ブッチ・ウォーカーのプロデュースにより、ナッシュビルとロサンゼルスで制作
■ベスト・コーストのフロントウーマンとして長年親しんできたインディー・ポップから脱却した作品となっている

Halfway through 2023s Natural Disaster, Bethany Cosentinos candid, yet rollicking debut solo album, she sings "I hope you hear this as me being fearless." The sentiment comes via "For a Moment," a swooning, romantic anthem that has the sparkling, wall-of-sound majesty of a Bruce Springsteen song and which underlines the overall feeling that the longtime Best Coast singer isnt just changing her style, but putting her deepest emotions and sense of self on the line. The idea for Natural Disaster came together in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced Best Coast (the duo Cosentino started in her early 20s with guitarist Bobb Bruno) to bring their tour in support of their fourth album, Always Tomorrow, to a swift halt. The ensuing solitude proved transformative for Cosentino who felt shed begun to outgrow the slackery garage rock that shed become something of a poster child for with Best Coast. Having already wrestled with substance abuse (Cosentino got sober in 2017), she began writing songs that better reflected her clear state of mind, her desire for deeper emotional connections, as well as her concerns over the environment. Its a vibe she carries through all of Natural Disaster and one that goes hand in hand with the change in her sound. Working with veteran alt-rock producer Butch Walker, Cosentino embraces a folk and country-influenced pop-rock approach, framing her warm, crystal clear vocals in piano, twangy electric guitar and pedal steel accents. Its a style that evokes the breezy, early 90s rock of artists like Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt, yet still retains all of the ringing melodicism of Best Coast. She also trades some of her cool girl swagger for a refreshing vulnerability and open heartedness. The change can be thrilling, as on the driving "Outta Time" where she expresses how it sometimes feels like your the only who is worried about the state of the world, even though we all have to deal with climate change and economic issues on a daily basis, proclaiming "I know Im not the only one/Can someone out there back me up?!" Part of the poignant charm of Natural Disaster is how Cosentino is able to take her anxieties over these big headline issues and make them relatable, wrapping them up in her feelings about growing older, accepting herself, and finding love. On "For a Moment" she sings, "The hills behind our house could literally just burst right into flames/I wake up every day and ruminate/I look at you and start to pray for rain/A voice inside my head says, Why you wanna waste your time like that?" The answer to that last question for Cosentino is one she returns to time and again on Natural Disaster, continually reaffirming that love and human connections, as well as her own creative expression arent just worth fighting for, theyre the whole point. ~ Matt Collar