Pull the Rope＜Red & Blue & Black Swirl Vinyl＞

ナイジェリア系英国人歌手イーノ・ウィリアムズ率いるフューチャー・アフロバンド、イビビオ・サウンド・マシーンの新作がリリース。M.I.A.などを手掛けるRoss Ortonがプロデュースを務め、高い評価を得た2022年のアルバム『Electricity』のエッジをさらに磨き上げた、クラブ映えするタイトな音像のエレクトロ・アルバム。

ハウス、ポスト・パンク、ファンク、アフロビート、ディスコ、バンガー、バラードといった様々な要素が高次元で融合しているが、全体的にオールナイトのパーティーで映えるような、煌めきを纏っている内容。打ち込みのパッドシンセと妖艶なボーカル、80sなプロダクトがツボ!

One of the qualities possessed by Ibibio Sound Machine is remarkable consistency. From their eponymous 2014 debut on Soundway, through three subsequent long players on Merge, vocalist/songwriter/producer Eno Williams and DJ/producer Max Grunhard have guided a fluid lineup, traveling across combined styles, genres, and approaches. The duo have always put their diversity down to their evolving cast of collaborators. Their primary partner here is producer/mixer Ross Orton (Working Mens Club, Tricky, Roots Manuva, M.I.A.). They cut the record over two weeks. Orton insisted that Williams and Grunhard write all the songs before bringing in the band (a first). Given Ortons love of hard-edged dance club-style production, he provided that dynamic and shifted ISMs direction. Pull the Ropes title-track opener weds post-punk, gogo, and no wave funk. A circular snare meets PK Ambroses mantra-like bass pulse, Motorik drumming (by Orton), handclaps, and synth as Williams and a chorus chant the title -- a metaphor for communal hope. Scott Bayliss layered trumpets enter near the end, adding dancefloor ballast to futurist funk. "Got to Be Who You Are" is introduced by a kalimba and a rap. Over three minutes and 40 seconds, it unfurls into souled-out drum funk programing and Williams sing-chanting the lyric. "Fire," co-written with percussionist Magnus Mehta, is a set highlight. An anthemic collision of Afro-funk, dubby horns, swirling beats, and electronics, its anchored again by Ambrose pushing the bass at the mix like a weapon as Williams alternately croons, chants, and swoons in a multi-lingual lyric framing "fire" as a metonymic device. The looping snares on "Them Say" give way to bass and low-end keys as Williams delivers a paean to self-determination, "...Couldn’t help but notice/Steps upon the path/Streets are full of faces/Family from the past...." Its answered by the militant post-punk hip-hop funk of "Political Incorrect." Afrobeat guitars and Ambroses Gang of Four-esque bassline frame bass drum loops, and Williams vocal, alternately crooning, rapping, and chanting. "Mama Say" is a theme of feminist empowerment sung in English and Nigerian Ibibio (Williams ancestral tongue) amid hard-edged electro-pop and squiggly funk. "Let My Yes Be Yes" doubles down on the womens empowerment tip. Its gorgeous melody is framed by dubwise horns and Afrobeat percussion in a bouncy neo-electro mix. Check the mutant Afro-disco groove in "Far Away" carried by Ambrose, Williams, and vocal chorus with Alfred Bannermans spiky, distorted guitar adding shockwaves to the groove until horns, synths, and bass entwine in a trancey collision under the backing singers. Closer "Dance in the Rain" is an electro-driven paean to desire; synths blip and bloop under drum loops, reverb, and Williams soulful singing as electronics, vocals, and percussion engage in call-and-response. Though much tighter and more adventurous musically, the unified approach on Pull the Rope recalls the ambitious scope of Ibibios eponymous debut while their songwriting expresses pain, hope, joy, desire, and struggle with sophistication and verve. ~ Thom Jurek

イーノ・ウィリアムズ率いるアフロ・ファンク・バンドの新作。M.I.A.の作品などを手掛けたロス・オートンがプロデュースしたサウンドは、多彩なリズムとアレンジが光る。ハウス、ディスコ、80sエレクトロ、ファンクといった要素を纏うグルーヴで踊らせてくれる。秀逸なポップソング集でありながら、クラブで映えるダンス・ミュージック・アルバムとしても聴ける。
bounce (C)近藤真弥