The Cleansing

The SmithsのJohnny Marr、Primal ScreamのBobby Gillespie、Fontaines DCのCarlos O'Connellなどゲストも豪華多数!
UKニュー・ウェイブ・バンド、The Only Onesの鬼才ソングライター Peter Perrettが最新ソロ・アルバムをリリース!

1976年から1981年まで隆盛を極めたPeter Perrett率いるイギリスのバンドThe Only Ones。ニュー・ウェイヴ・バンドの中でも特に個性的で、カリスマ性があり、スリリングなライヴが評判だったが、当時のドラッグ消費量が災いして、最終的にバンドは崩壊。Perretもドラッグの常習性が増し、業界から姿を消した。だが30年の時を経て、彼は奇跡的な復活を果たし、2017年にソロ・デビュー作『How The West Was Won』を発表、2019年にはセカンド・アルバム『Humanworld』を発表し、消息が途絶えがちだった彼の行動パターンは断ち切られた。そして、今回、サード・アルバム『The Cleansing』が、〈Domino〉からリリースされる!息子のJamie(ギター/プロデュース)とPeter Jr.(ベース)、ライブ・バンドのメンバーという信頼できるチームに加え、The SmithsのJohnny Marr、Primal ScreamのBobby Gillespie、Fontaines DCのCarlos O'Connellなどゲストも豪華多数!20曲からなる2枚組アルバムを通して、Perrett独特の麻薬的で魅惑的なメロディー、サウス・ロンドンの華麗な語り口、そして躍動的なロックが、幅広い音楽アレンジと叙情的なテーマと結びついている。

Since returning to the recording studio in late 2017, Peter Perrett has been nothing short of brilliant, and never more so than on 2024s The Cleansing. The singer twists his sneeringly humane vocals around a set of songs that are eye-wateringly honest about his dangerous past, desperately emotional about the people he loves, and stand right in the center between bloody nostalgia and up-to-date missives from a still-beating heart. He peppers his straight to-the-point post-punk rockers and jangling trad rock ballads with bitter wit, hard-won wisdom, and a collection of bon mots, put downs, and declarations drawn from a life lived right up to the edge for more years than most could handle. He’s joined by his sons -- guitarist/producer Jamie and bassist Peter, Jr. -- plus a cavalcade of guest stars like Johnny Marr, Dream Wife guitarist Alice Go, Bobby Gillespie, Douglas Hart of Jesus and Mary Chain fame, and Fontaines D.C. member Carlos O’Connell. Together, they whip up a sound thats perfectly in tune with Perretts songs, twanging with gunfighter drama ("Survival Mode"), rocking out with glee ("Disinfectant"), swaying with graceful solemnity ("Feast for Sore Eyes), or conjuring up the ghost of the Only Ones ("Back in the Hole"). Twenty songs is a lot for any album and it could have been a grind if the band was content to mine the same sonic territory the whole time; luckily, Perrett and co. change things up from song to song and keep listeners on their toes by throwing in squalls of feedback, arrangements stripped down to their bare-bones, out-of-nowhere backing vocals, etc. -- the sounds are interesting but never distract from the star of the show: Perretts songs and voice. Hes probably never delivered a stronger set of songs, lyrically or melodically, and somehow his voice has never sounded better. He imbues the tales of wasted youth (and beyond) with brutal dollops of truth, never romanticizing or asking for sympathy, while delivering love songs with a warmth that can be attributed to being happy to still be alive to experience it. Despite the heavy thread of darkness that runs through The Cleansing, in the end the album is strangely uplifting and yes, cleansing, as he washes out the sadness, pain, and suffering hes been through and ends up on his feet, bruised but still ready to carry on. By the end of the record, listeners are liable to feel the same way. There are no barriers or guardrails here, its an unblinking gaze into the abyss, and victory over that bleakness, that can be shared by anyone brave enough to tag along. ~ Tim Sendra