Quit!!

米カントリー・ロックの注目アーティスト、HARDYの新作が完成。前作『the mockingbird & THE CROW』は46億ストリーミングを記録し、ビルボード200アルバム・チャートでオールジャンルのトップ5入りを果たし、さらにトップ・カントリー・アルバム、トップ・ロック・アルバム、トップ・アルバム・セールスを含む7つのビルボード・チャートで初週首位を獲得している。

Its hard not to read the title of Hardys fourth album as a message to the country music industry that made him a star: hes voluntarily leaving Nashville behind. Once nimbly navigating the border separating country and rock, Hardy throws himself into churning post-grunge with Quit!!, swiping a song title from Oasis, namedropping Nickelback -- not so coincidentally a band produced by Joey Moi, Hardys collaborator from the start -- and going so far as to invite Fred Durst and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers into the studio to make a cameo. Lousy with processed guitar distortion and cavernous drums, Quit!! plays like a deliberate tribute to the glory days of nu-metal, but underneath the digital clamor there still are traces of the professional songwriter who penned hits for Florida Georgia Line and Morgan Wallen. Hardy is sharp enough to give the strip-club anthem "Good Girl Phase" a boisterous pop hook, a trick he replicates on the Knox duet "Happy Hour," while he also knows the power of a simple slow tune: he closes proceedings with "Six Feet Under (Caleighs Song)," a power ballad designed to bounce off the walls at arenas. "Six Feet Under (Caleighs Song)" is every bit as calculated as "Psycho" -- a song intended to elicit smirks on behalf of a vengeful ex -- and "Jim Bob," a dirge-like celebration of Southern cliches that cant be called country. By playing modern metal for a contemporary country audience, Hardy hits a bullseye with his intended audience but to anybody outside of that group, the minor-key melodies and sludgy guitars of Quit!! are bound to be a monumental drag. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

前作はカントリーとグランジの2本立てだったが、今回はロックに専念している。ラップも交えつつ、ブリンク182やウィーザーを聴きながら育ってきたのかと改めて思わせる。フレッド・ダーストのラップをフィーチャーした"Soul4Sale"は、80sニューウェイヴなサウンドが印象的。ポップ・パンクの"Good Girl Phase"はチャド・スミスのドラムも聴きどころだ。
bounce (C)山口智男