Rain Before Seven...＜限定盤/Petrol Green Vinyl＞

英国独特の楽観主義とウクレレ、クアトロ、バラフォンなど異なる地域のテクスチャーが融合した彼らの理想郷。タイトルは韻を踏んだ予言とも言える古い天気予報のことわざに由来しています。ー11時前には晴れるー それ は科学とは関係なくハッピーエンドを意味する言葉。アーサー・ジェフス曰く「それまで聞いたことが無かったけど ある本でその言葉を見つけたんだ。かすかに楽観的なニュアンスがあってとても好きな言葉だよ。」共同プロデューサーのRobertに後押しされ今作のリズム要素はかつてないほど前面に押し出されエレクトロニカを彷彿とさせる楽曲もあります。

The fifth album from Arthur Jeffes Penguin Cafe is a set of playful instrumentals embracing festive rhythms and unique instrumentation, created in the spirit of the groups 2011 debut. With that record, A Matter of Life..., Jeffes offered a contemporary continuation of the singular avant-pop of his late father Simon Jeffes influential, unclassifiable Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Subsequent Penguin Cafe albums have established a sound more distinct from the original Orchestras, with expansive arrangements and more original material. Rain Before Seven... brings back instruments like ukuleles and cuicas, combining eccentricity with post-minimalist sophistication. The opening title track is a flowing, rain-swept chamber piece with wispy strings and tricky time signatures, later folding in Spaghetti Western guitar licks. "Temporary Shelter from the Storm" comforts with its rolling mallet percussion, cascading pianos, and encouraging melodica tune. "In Re Budd" begins with polyrhythmic steel drums and shakers, then gains a jovial, reverie-like piano melody. Even though its named in tribute to Harold Budd, its somehow whimsical enough to pass for an homage to Chico Marx. "Second Variety" is much more somber and wintry, with clusters of percussion rustling underneath the drifting textures, and melodica unexpectedly taking charge near the end. "No One Really Leaves..." is a stirring, elegantly stated piece filled with regal strings and majestic piano currents. "Lamborghini 754" is melancholy but hopeful, and much more subtle than upbeat selections such as the rousing, jig-like "Goldfinch Yodel." With Rain Before Seven..., Penguin Cafe acknowledge grief and loss but prefer to express joy and positivity. ~ Paul Simpson