Crux

During the early 2010s, Glassers Cameron Mesirow was one of the most distinctive artists working in electronic art-pop, bringing a pensive wildness to her debut album, Ring, that stood out from the work of her contemporaries. Following the release of her second album, Interiors, she experienced a creative drain from which it took her years to recover. Gradually, Mesirow returned, issuing 2018s Sextape EP, 2022s single "New Scars," and the full-length crux, a reflection of how the years have refined her music. Glassers third album brings a new kind of movement to her tracks: instead of Rings circular structures, Interiors sharply contoured forms, or Sextapes choppy peaks and valleys, cruxs tracks flow in undulating waves. This smoothness feels unifying, not boring, on songs such as "A Guide," which begins the album with serene expanses of melded electronics and vocals. Mesirow still employs unusual instrumentation artfully, even if its not quite as showy as it was on Glassers previous albums. She updates Celtic folk influences on "Vine," where warbling synths echo Uilleann pipes and birdsong; on "Knaeve," pedal steel echoes her fluctuating emotions and vocal melody. Glasser lives up to its name particularly well with "Thick Waltz," where Mesirow layers plucked metallic bass, strings, and harp with a transparent lightness. However, cruxs biggest leap forward is Mesirows own voice. Her singing, and the words she sings, sound freer and more direct than they did on either Ring or Interiors when she muses on the comings and goings of loved ones on "Easy" and communes with the worlds around her and inside her on "Mass Love." While crux differs significantly from Sextapes pulsing, spoken-word dancefloor workouts, the EPs unguarded, confessional mood still lingers: "Its weird on the other side/With all these shards I hope to reassemble/From my life," Mesirow sings over elastic beats on the hypnotic highlight "All Lovers." She showcases the Balkan singing techniques she learned during her hiatus -- and which brought her back to making music -- with the intricate harmonies of "Choir Prayer" and the operatic heights she reaches on "Ophrys." Mesirow may not have released much music in the decade following Interiors, but crux is a testament to the depth shes discovered within Glassers otherworldly yet immediate sound. ~ Heather Phares

グラッサーことキャメロン・メジローが10年ぶりとなるアルバムを発表した。3作目となる本作は、これまで追求してきたエクスペリメンタルなエレポップという路線を深化させたものだ。いくつもの拍を駆使したビート、余白を活かした艶やかな音像、奔放な歌い回しといった多くの魅力はビョークを想起させる。内観的視座が際立つ味わい深い歌詞もグッド。
bounce (C)近藤真弥