Darling Arithmetic＜数量限定盤/Red Vinyl＞

世界が惚れ込んだ美しい旋律と歌声...アイルランドで国民的人気を誇るフォーク・ロック・バンド、Villagersの過去作がカラー盤で一挙再発!!

Coming off Villagers' highly touted, Mercury Prize-nominated debut, 2010's Becoming a Jackal, singer/songwriter Conor J. O'Brien updated his group's atmospheric baroque pop sound with the addition of various synthesizers and drum machines, as well as creative collaboration with a working group of bandmates. Subsequently, Villagers' sophomore album, 2013's {Awayland}, was an even more robust, sonically layered production. Rather than sticking with a more-is-more approach, O'Brien has taken the exact opposite tack for his third album, 2015's Darling Arithmetic, forgoing a group sound and instead working once again as a true solo act. To this end, Darling Arithmetic is possibly even more insular than Becoming a Jackal, with O'Brien largely favoring acoustic guitar, piano, and softly sung lyrics ripe with the scent of a relationship in trouble. In "Everything I Am Is Yours," he sings "I am just a man/Tipping on a wire/Tightrope walking fool/Balanced on desire/I cannot control/These ever-changing ways/So how can I be sure/The feeling will remain/It'll always change." This skeptical desire for love is echoed later in "Hot Scary Summer," as he addresses problems with a possible lover with "So you thank me for my hard work/But you've had it up to there/'Cause this shouldn't be hard work/But I'll fight to care if you'd care to fight." Musically, much -- if not all -- of Darling Arithmetic is pitched at a slow, dream-inducing pace and, while lushly recorded, feels smaller in scope than even Villagers' debut. Admittedly, these are also slower-burning compositions that lack the hooks and pop immediacy of much of Villagers' previous work. Ultimately, however, the pulling back feels intentional and fitting for an album of songs that always seem born out of O'Brien's most personal experiences. As he sings on "The Soul Serene," "So I go walking on the shore/And I wonder what I'm walking for...and I find chameleon dreams in my mind." ~ Matt Collar

ダブリンの5人組が前作のエレクトリックな路線から一転し、アコースティックに立ち返った2年ぶり3枚目のアルバム。しかし、単なる回帰ではなく、トラッド・フォークとジャズの融合とも言えるスリリングなアンサンブルや、音の響かせ方を意識した緻密なプロダクションに、バンドの進化を強く感じる。コナー・オブライエンが紡ぎ出すメロディーの美しさをこれまでとは違う形で際立たせた、チャレンジングな一枚。
bounce (C)山口智男