All Born Screaming

セイント・ヴィンセントにとって初の完全セルフ・プロデュース作品

Rachel Eckroth, Josh Freese, Dave Grohl, Mark Guiliana, Cate Le Bon, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Stella Mogzawa, David Ralickeといった豪華顔ぶれがクレジット。ミックスはCian Riordanが担当。

Though St. Vincents 2021 album Daddys Home was far from a failure -- it won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album -- it could be argued that it was the first time in Annie Clarks career that the concept overshadowed the actual music. That cant be said of All Born Screaming. As she searches for ways to embrace the terrifying, exhilarating chaos of being alive, Clark delivers the immediacy and emotional impact that Daddys Home seemed to promise. To express life, death, and love in their most elemental forms, she reaches deep into formative sounds that couldnt be further from Daddys earth-toned 70s homages. However, the shades of Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, and Portishead she incorporates into All Born Screaming have more to do with those artists willingness to confront raw, even ugly feelings head-on than they do with nostalgia. Its part of Clarks concerted effort to push herself that also includes teaching herself modular synthesis (which shines particularly brightly on "Sweetest Fruit," a shimmering tribute to visionary producer SOPHIE) and handling the production duties entirely on her own. Clarks exciting sound design breathes life into the albums distinct movements, from the flowing opener "Hell Is Near" to the mix of playfulness and awe on the title track that makes the records culmination a journey in itself. In between, All Born Screamings pounding heart delivers some of the most visceral moments of St. Vincents career. An instant classic, "Broken Man"s seething industrial blues-rock blends playful theatricality with a sense of real danger that radiates from Clarks snarling vocals and volcanic guitars. Its one of a pair of songs that find her and Dave Grohl building on the furious chemistry they shared playing Nirvanas songs at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; the other, "Flea," pierces its suffocating heaviness with a sparkling prog-rock tangent that would be the albums most audacious move if it werent for the maximalist emptiness of "Big Time Nothing"s disco-funk strut. Clark packs such a wallop with these songs that it feels like shes sharing something deeply personal with her listeners even if theyre not overtly autobiographical, an impression heightened by All Born Screamings unforgettable imagery. Pompeiian lovers hold each other forever on "Violent Times," where she sets the importance of choosing love above all to swooning sonics worth of a James Bond theme song; on "The Powers Out," a televised assassination kicks off its woozily romantic sketch of a post-pandemic dystopia. In the end, All Born Screamings carefully plotted emotional arc and tight musicianship only highlight how refreshingly candid it feels. Clark has more than earned the freedom she gives herself to express so many different sides to her music, and its a thrill to hear her stretch out on these ferocious, heartbroken, and ultimately life-affirming songs. ~ Heather Phares

近年ではジャック・アントノフと組んできた才媛が、初のセルフ・プロデュースで完成させた7作目。70年代のグラムやファンクを意識した前作『Daddy's Home』(2021年)の古典性とは打って変わり、エレクトロニックのビートと人力のロック・ドラム、ディストーションの効いたギターやスペイシーなシンセを切り貼りしていくサウンドは実にフリーキー。デイヴ・グロールやケイト・ル・ボン、マーク・ジュリアナまでを集結させつつ、すべての要素が彼女自身のクリエイティヴィティーに奉仕しているようで凄まじい。天才が本気を出したときの凄さ、常識の枠を超えていく感覚を味わえる。
bounce (C)田中亮太