Love In The Future＜完全生産限定盤＞

2013年発売 ジョン・レジェンドの4thアルバム『Love In The Future』(アナログ盤)

今年で発売10周年を迎えるジョン・レジェンドの4作目『Love In The Future』をアナログ盤で発売。
自身初の全米シングルチャート1位を獲得し彼の代表曲となった「All of Me」他、全20曲を収録。

This is John Legends first solo studio album since 2008s Evolver. Between the two releases, he recorded the Grammy-winning Wake Up! with the Roots, scored a gold single with "Tonight (Best You Ever Had)" (from the Think Like a Man soundtrack), was featured on a couple albums worth of songs by other artists, and somehow managed to be deeply involved in philanthropy. He also got engaged. Although he proposed to model Chrissy Teigen five years after meeting her, much of Love in the Future seems drawn from a romance that was quicker to bloom. "The Beginning…" sets a tone of urgency with a scene from the day after their first night spent together. Legend sings with certitude, "Pick some names, boy or girl/Then well change, change the world." That sense of blissful urgency -- of seizing the moment, getting lost, and knowing that the future is set -- is belied in the pacing. Even the albums standard 16-track edition meanders at a crawling pace. Its broken up by the occasional soaring arrangement or some hypnotically clanking/pinging percussion, as heard on highlight "Made to Love," which resembles a latter-day Moby collaboration with distant handclapping, spooky background vocals, and a sample from Lil Louis noisy house classic "Video Clash." This is a heavy, laboriously made set of songs. The list of producers alone includes Hit-Boy, Bink, 88 Keys, the Runners, Doc McKinney, Q-Tip, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Kanye West and Dave Tozer pile on as co-producers and co-executive producers. Perhaps they ensured that the whole album would have its dramatic, slightly eerie tone; even the covers of Bobby Caldwells "Open Your Eyes" and Anita Bakers "Angel" are a little uneasy. That level of sonic indulgence seems like it should be incompatible with an artist who is, essentially, a piano man, but Love in the Future is among Legends best work, made for couples who are into one another for the long term while feeling a little daring and crazy. ~ Andy Kellman

ディアンジェロ以降でもっとも優れたヒップホップとR&Bの融合を果たした初作『Get Lifted』、そこに留まらない彼独自のスタンダード感を示した2作目『Once Again』、サウンドと歌唱の幅を広げた進化の3作目『Evolver』。このジョン・レジェンドの4作目『Love In The Future』はそれらすべての発展形と言える内容だが、意匠の違いこそあれ、どれを聴いても根っこに感じるのは鍵盤弾きのシンガー・ソングライターとしての普遍的なポップセンスだ。つまり―〈先行曲"Who Do We Think We Are"におけるジーン・ナイトの引用は本人の提案だそうだが、これはソウル・カヴァー集だったルーツとのコラボ作『Wake Up!』の経験を踏まえたものだろうか? では今回AOR名曲にして大ネタとして知られるボビー・コールドウェル"Open Your Eyes"をカヴァーした意図は果たして?〉―なんてことは考えるだけ野暮なのかも。それより、デュエット相手のシールに引けを取らない"We Love It"などにおける大らかで力強い歌唱が、よりアーティストとしてのスケール感を増していく彼の姿と重なる点にこそ注目すべきでしょう。シーンや聴き手の文脈とは無縁に、盟友カニエ・ウェストやデイヴ・トーザーらと共にレジェンドへの長い道のりを着実に進んでいくのだろうと感じさせる、未来へのラヴソング集。
bounce (C)池谷昌之