Celebrate

On the debut Halo Maud album, Je suis une ile, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Maud Nadal crafted a sound that met somewhere in the middle between Bjorks airy experimentalism and the sleek retro-futurism of Broadcast, while splicing in elements of trippy neo-psych that listeners of Melodys Echo Chamber or Tame Impala (before they went disco) would recognize. It was a heady mixture topped off by Nadals quirkily charming vocals and her knack for melodic gut-punch hooks that come out of nowhere to connect, leaving one breathless and starry-eyed. On Celebrate, she makes the wise decision not to fool around with the winning formula much. Despite the long lag time between release dates, its hard to tell where one album stops and the other begins. For many artists, that might seem reductive, or problematic, but in this case, Nadal and a small crew of like-minded musicians -- including Deerhoofs Greg Saunier -- have whipped up something just as stunningly fresh and capable of gleeful surprises. Perhaps there are a few more achingly pretty ballads this time around, like "A Te Voir," which positively glimmers as Nadal emotes delightfully and the music spins around her. Or "You Float," which lives up to its name as Nadal and Saunier duet over gently cascading drums and swooning synths. The almost a cappella cover of the Fred Frith song "Iceberg" done with the help of Flavien Berger is a delightful diversion too. Otherwise, the bulk of the album is made up of uptempo tracks that are murky and magical, layered with alternately chiming and overloaded guitars, all sorts of keyboard sounds, clattering drums, and Nadals vocals, which swoop and soar like tiny but strangely strong birds riding an unsteady breeze. Its all as mysterious and dreamy as the first Halo Maud album, maybe more assured and daring, and in the end, interesting. As a result, its just as satisfyingly enchanting and does even more to cement Halo Maud and Nadals place at the forefront of her peers in making similarly complicated dreamlike and dreamy pop. ~ Tim Sendra

メロディーズ・エコー・チャンバーやムードイドに参加し、ケミカル・ブラザーズの昨年作にもフィーチャーされていたフランス人シンガー/マルチ奏者のセカンド作。ディアフーフのグレッグ・ソーニアとのデュエット、フレッド・フリス曲のアカペラ・カヴァーなど、サイケで軽やか。オーロラを思わせる愛くるしい歌声が、白昼夢のような虹色ポップの中を舞い上がる。
bounce (C)村上ひさし