Kantos

シアトル生まれのシンガー・ソングライター/プロデューサーKishi Bashiによる5枚目のフルアルバム。ブラジリアン・ジャズや70年代のファンクから、オーケストラ・ロックやシティ・ポップが融合した作品。カルト的人気を誇るSF小説『ハイペリオン・カントス』シリーズ、18世紀の啓蒙哲学者イマヌエル・カントの著作、クレタ島の古代遺跡への啓示的な旅など、万華鏡のように様々なインスピレーションが混在。集大成とも言えるポップ作品の誕生です。

Kishi Bashis fifth proper studio album, Kantos, follows several years of Kaoru Ishibashi being immersed in work associated with the Emmy-nominated documentary Omoiyari: A Songfilm by Kishi Bashi. A project motivated by anti-immigrant political rhetoric, it sought to remind or educate people about the WWII-era Japanese American internment camps in the U.S. while also examining his own cultural upbringing as a child of Japanese immigrants, as well as how he uses music to process and express emotion. After wrapping the film, there was still all the related editing, promotion, distribution deals, etc. to contend with. In the end, the project inspired his orchestral folk-leaning 2019 album, Omoiyari, and produced the 2023 soundtrack LP Music from the Song Film: Omoiyari, a 33-cue collection of songs and original score material. With Kantos, Ishibashi takes a left turn and a cathartic sigh on what he dubbed a "party album." This is Kishi Bashi, so its not without its deeply romantic and melancholy moments, but point taken. The album, which includes a live backing band and a dozen or so additional guests, begins with a flourish on the brief "Violin Akai," which re-introduces his distinctively otherworldly, layered looping technique, then launches us onto the dancefloor. Its followed by "Chiba Funk," one of multiple tracks here to embrace a mix of Japanese and English lyrics. Later, the regretful "Late Night Comic" ("No more jokes for me to share/Just the truth for us, I swear") adopts something approximating a wistful new wave, and "Call It Off" is an outright heartbreak ballad ("Its all so sad/When we dream/On separate paths"). But the bulk of Kantos is dedicated to quirky alternative dance music that reaches uproarious heights on tracks like the orchestral prog rock interlude "Escape from Knossos," with its campy guitar solo and relentless power drumming (that leads into the likewise proggy "Icarus IV"), and celebratory disco pairing "Lilliputian Chop" and "Analogico Brasil." The former songs old-school disco-funk features saxophonist Augie Bello as well as diva-style additional vocals by Zorina Andall; with Ishibashi asking, "Why does love have to be overrated? Dated?" over strings-enhanced disco beats, "Analogico Brasil" ventures into mid-century jazz vocalese. Along the way, Kantos also offers up a rap entry with "Make Believe" (featuring Linqua Franqa) before closing with a more earnest dance-pop on "Tokyo Love Story (Love Story Wa Totsuzen Ni)." Just because its fun doesnt make it a divertissement, as Ishibashi brings complex feelings to the table alongside some virtuosic genre exercises. ~ Marcy Donelson

英語詞と日本語詞を織り交ぜて独自の世界を築くシアトル出身の日系シンガー・ソングライター。この通算5作目はフォーキーな前作から一転、ラプチャーやLCDサウンドシステムから影響を受けたというダンス・アルバムに。もちろんただ踊れるだけでなく彼らしい音楽性の幅広さを感じさせる内容で、なかでも"ラブ・ストーリーは突然に"のシティ・ポップ風カヴァーは絶品。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二