Away From The Castle

前作から一転しながらも、彼ららしいポップセンスが全開!
80'sの雰囲気が漂うシンセポップから美メロフォークまで、全編に渡りどこか懐かしくて甘酸っぱいメロディが溢れ出す!特に冒頭3曲が絶品!他にも跳ねるベースラインが引っぱるソウルフルなダンストラック(7)、オートチューンの小曲(9)など聴きどころ多数で、端々に古き良き時代のポップスの要素も感じられる・・・楽曲制作中に盟友であるドラッグディーラーの作品に参加した経験も影響したとお見受けしました!

メロウでレトロなシンセをフューチャーし評価とセールス共に一大バズを巻き起こした前作『PLEASURE LINE』から3年....アメリカはニューオーリンズが誇るデュオVIDEO AGEが待望のフルアルバム『AWAY FROM THE CASTLE』をリリース!
プロモーションとツアーを含めた前作までの活動を全て終えると、勢いを保ったまま曲作り期間に突入。途中盟友のドラッグディーラーのアルバムに参加したり、地元ニューオーリンズ特有のジャズ / ブルースシーンへ修行したりと様々なインスピレーションをGET。そしてツアーメンバーと共にレコーディング合宿を敢行し、生活を共にしながら出来上がったのが本作。今回参考にしたという1960～70年代のポップスのエキスが存分に撒かれつつ、影響源のドラッグディーラー寄りアメリカンなメロディとノスタルジーが大炸裂!
先行シングルにしてアルバム名と同じトラックで聴ける、今まで以上に軽やかで甘酸っぱいメロディラインは、誰もが心を撃ち抜かれる!
前作の路線から一転しながらも、VIDEO AGEらしさは絶対に外さなかった本作。可愛すぎるジャケットと一緒に楽しむべし!

After releasing their third album, 2020s Pleasure Line, which doubled as their Winspear label debut, Video Age -- singers/songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Ross Farbe and Ray Micarelli -- were feeling uninspired, so they sought out outside collaboration. Over the next couple years, Farbe produced albums for the Convenience and Esther Rose, Micarelli played out on the jazz and blues scenes of their base of New Orleans, and they both contributed to Drugdealers 2022 album Hiding in Plain Sight. Refreshed and somewhat diversified, they eventually reassembled with their touring band (the Conveniences Duncan Troast and Nick Corson) in a rented cabin in Eunice, Louisiana, their first time constructing an album together in the same room. The resulting Away from the Castle is a stylistically freer set thats still anchored in their previous albums synth-centric 80s pop but also drifts into disco ("Just Think"), driving country-rock (the title track), yacht rock inspirations ("Better Than Ever"), and more, all with the projects trademark tenderhearted demeanor. A track like the melancholy "In the Breaks," with its piano, acoustic strumming, and brushed snare, is a good example of a song without conspicuous synths that fits pretty seamlessly in with the rest, thanks to complementary touches like a delay-heavy sax, staggered harmony vocals, and Farbes smooth-as-silk lead. Those vocals help provide a through line for potential outliers like the disco-pop ditty "Just Think" (which includes lyrics about "disco night") and pulsing, New Order-on-weed post-punk ballad "Is It Really Over?" Meanwhile, those wanting more of Video Ages glossy, early-80s-era keyboard timbres will still find what theyre looking for, theyre just fleshed out more often by piano and Fender Rhodes. Its an album that puts the focus on song over production style, and given the melody-craft on display here, its an enhancement. ~ Marcy Donelson