The Moon Is In The Wrong Place

これまでで最もパーソナルかつ革新的なニュー・アルバムをEasy Eye Soundよりリリース

2022年、シンガーのShannon Showの婚約者だったミュージシャンのJoe Haenerが結婚式まであとわずか数週間というところで交通事故で亡くなり、その悲劇のショックとトラウマから生まれた最新アルバム。
バンドの最も感情的で焼け付くようなレコーディングとなった。

Shannon Shaw has a voice as big as all outdoors, and apparently Dan Auerbach decided she should make a record thats just as vast. Shaw is the lead singer with Shannon & the Clams, whose blend of girl group, garage rock, rockabilly, and other cool retro rock & roll sounds has made them cult favorites, and Auerbach is the co-founder of the Black Keys and an avowed Clams fan who produced their 2018 album Onion as well as 2021s Year of the Spider. Both of those records found Auerbach using his studio savvy to give the band a richer and more colorful sound, and with 2024s The Moon Is in the Wrong Place, hes gone all in, with clean, well-detailed production, arrangements that arent afraid to be grandiose, and plenty of space for Shaws vocals to get the spotlight they deserve. The opening track, "The Vow," is a Latin-tinged ballad whose romantic shuffle builds up to a colossal swell of horns, percussion, and massed vocals in its grand finale, and if most of the album is on a more modest scale, it serves as a statement of purpose that, at least for this record, Auerbach and the Clams have decided to go big or go home. Theres a bittersweet irony in the grand spectacle of "The Vow," as Shaw originally wrote it for her fiance, Gris Gris drummer Joe Haener, who died in an auto accident just weeks before they were to be wed. Shaw and her bandmates -- guitarist Cody Blanchard, keyboard player Will Sprott, and drummer Nate Mahan -- wrote the bulk of The Moon Is in the Wrong Place in the wake of his passing, and the tragedy informs several of the songs ("Its hard to share you with all the world/I wanted to wear white and be your girl," Shaw sings in "Oh So Close, Yet So Far," with just the slightest catch in her voice). There are fewer songs on The Moon Is in the Wrong Place that will get the party started than on Shannon & the Clams previous albums (with the exception of the joyous "Bean Fields"), though if the tone is subdued, the end result is still very satisfying. The band and their guests play with passion and skill, the songs are evocative and thoughtful, and Auerbachs confidence in Shaws voice is well founded -- she sounds soulful and strong even as she struggles with heartache and loss. The Moon Is in the Wrong Place doesnt feel like an out-of-the-box banger like the Clams best LPs, but it aims for something different than their previous work, and on its own terms its a deeply affecting success. ~ Mark Deming

イージー・アイ・サウンドからは3枚目となる通算7作目。プロデューサーは、60s調ガレージ・ロックを奏でるこのオークランドの4人組に惚れ込んだレーベル主宰者のダン・オーバック。シャノン・ショウの迫力満点な歌声もさることながら、ウィル・スプラットのプログレ・サイケなオルガンも大活躍。パーカッションやメロディーに滲むラテン・フレイヴァーも聴きどころだ。
bounce (C)山口智男