In Search of the Antidote

米ニュージャージー出身で女優としてのキャリアも持つFLETCHER。デビュー作『Girl of My Dreams』(2022)以来となる2ndアルバムを完成。新作からは「Lead Me On」、「Eras of Us」等の楽曲が先行公開されている。

In 2022, FLETCHER landed in the Billboard 200 Top 20 with the self-examining, self-affirming, and lovestruck Girl of My Dreams. On the follow-up, she struggles to pick up the pieces on the explosive turn into sadness and rejection that constitutes In Search of the Antidote. Some of its characteristic sentiments include lines like, "The thought of you is torture" ("Lead Me On") and "Im burning down my world again" (opener "Maybe I Am"). Recorded with a slate of producers, including returning main producer/co-songwriter Jennifer Decilveo as well as FLETCHER first-timers such as Pete Nappi (Maroon 5, the Score), the Monsters & Strangerz (Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry), and singer/songwriter Jon Bellion, it revisits familiar electro-pop territory while upping the anguish and explicit content. Essentially a set of danceable power ballads about people who get past the bouncer at the club ("Youll never f*ck somebody hotter"), it may have some cringy, bratty lyrics at first listen (catch also "Joyride"s anthemically delivered "You were in my dreams/Now I’m in your bed"), but, supported by performances, the raw vulnerability is the point. Ultimately, In Search of the Antidote followed Girl of My Dreams into the Top 40. ~ Marcy Donelson

クィアな愛を高らかに歌う米国人シンガー・ソングライターの2作目。ヒットメイカーのモンスターズ&ザ・ストレンジャーズらを迎え、痛快なリード曲"Lead On Me"、初期アヴリルを彷彿とさせる"Maybe I Am"など、ポップ・ロック度が大幅アップしている。テイラー・スウィフトのライヴで元カノと遭遇するという実話を綴った"Eras Of Us"など、等身大のリアリティが微笑ましい。
bounce (C)村上ひさし