The Well I Fell Into

30年近くにわたり活動してきたシンシナティ出身のソングライターYoni WolfによるプロジェクトWHY?が7枚目のフルアルバムをリリース。サイケデリック・ポップ、ヒップホップ、エレクトロニック・ミュージックの境界線を拡張してきた彼が今作でも自身の挑発的で感情を露骨に開放した歌詞やトラックは健在。今回は彼が共同設立したアンチコンの足跡をたどる新レーベルWaterlinesよりのリリースとなります。

Over the course of their first six albums, Why? -- Yoni Wolf, bandmates, and friends -- carved a niche all their own with an eclectic, existentialist mix of arty indie rock and literary underground hip-hop. Fueled by a lingering breakup, Wolf presents his most accessible, singer/songwriter-styled Why? record yet with seventh set The Well I Fell Into, the projects first album in five years. Thats not to say that its bland or conventional, however, nor is it solitary: The Well I Fell Into was recorded as a band and includes the participation of a slew of guests, among them such indie notables as Gia Margaret, Macie Stewart, Lala Lala, Ada Lea, and frequent collaborator Serengeti. It was co-produced by Wolf, his brother and bandmate Josiah Wolf, and Brian Joseph, whose studio resume includes Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver. The tone of the album is consistently melancholy, though, and after the layered sound experiments and rising-and-falling strings of intro track "Lauderdale Detour," Wolfs voice enters on the mournful "Marigold" with the words "I used to be married/Now I drag around the ring/On a sling/In a barrel of salt." Thats followed later in the song by "Ive barely been in my body/Since Obama/Is it karma, this whole drama?" He continues to process emotions, memories, and isolation on tracks like "Brand New," with its pleading anthem chorus ("Someone please tell me what to do"); the more singsongy "G-dzillah Gdolah," a track built on staccato prepared piano and upright bass; the occasionally Beatlesque "Nis(s)an Dreams, Pt. 1" (which includes the line "Versa like a hearse" and is followed later by the song "Versa Go!"); and mystical, drum-thumping rap highlight "Sin Imperial." With 14 tracks in all, the album closes on the wistful "Sending Out a Pamphlet." After some studio banter, the song launches into a brushed-snare, cabaret-style keyboard lament in which Wolf issues a call for love directed at anyone who may be receptive ("hoping Im enough, hoping Im enough"). Disconsolate, intricately produced, and surprisingly varied, all things considered, The Well I Fell Into should appeal to sympathetic fans as well as the less-folky sad-song set. ~ Marcy Donelson