Strawberry Hotel

永遠の瞬間をダンス・ミュージックに変える創造主、アンダーワールドの新たな傑作が遂に到着!!!

今年SONIC MANIA/SUMMER SONIC 2024にヘッドライナーとして降臨し、そのオーディエンスの期待をさらに上回るパフォーマンスで圧倒したアンダーワールド。
昨年のアシッドハウスの匂いが充満した超傑作シングル「and the colour red」を皮切りに、「denver luna」、「Fen Violet」など、原点回帰しつつも現代シーンのリズムを刻む、キレと彩りを増したアンダーワールド・サウンドを連発し、新旧ファンの期待感を高めてきた彼ら。遂に待望の新作アルバム『STRAWBERRY HOTEL』がリリースされる。

Strawberry Hotel is Underworlds first studio album since the 2019 release of Drift Series 1, an expansive box set compiling several "episodes" (with practically an albums worth of material each), collaborations with Australian avant-jazz group the Necks, and a lengthy Blu-ray of accompanying films, all recorded and released piece by piece in the space of a year. This extremely abundant, spontaneous outpouring of material tended towards improvisation and extended moments of dancefloor euphoria. Though Underworlds recordings always feel like the results of endless jam sessions, with all of Karl Hydes vocals coming across as stream-of-consciousness ramblings and poetry, they generally manage to whittle the most effective moments down to their essence on their albums and singles, and their most successful tracks are the ones that come closest to the bands equivalent of pop songs. Strawberry Hotel returns to the ebb-and-flow sequencing of their proper albums, balancing introspective tone poems with progressive club-stormers. The pounding, train-like beats and references to tube hole stations on "denver luna" draw a clear line back to previous Underworld triumphs like "Dark & Long" and "Born Slippy (NUXX)." The surging instrumental "Techno Shinkansen" is three minutes of pure light, getting by with just uplifting chords and steady kick drums. Likewise, "and the colour red" may be nothing more than brittle beats, flickering sequencers, and looped, distorted vocal phrases, but thats all it needs in order to establish a deeply zoned-in late-night mood. Hyde is in a surprisingly playful mode on a few tracks, particularly "Sweet Lands Experience" ("I was more smashed than you were!") and the goofy "King of Haarlem," filled with nonsensical, silly-putty vocal turns that are later reprised on the brief "Oh Thorn!" "Lewis in Pomona" is filled with exaggerated wailing, along with the repeated assurance "and it feels good," eventually accompanied by the ecstatic release of stomping beats. "Burst of Laughter" actually isnt one of the albums lighthearted moments, as it begins by asking, "Do you ever feel like youre alone?," but ultimately its lyrics offer a message of consolation, and the skipping rhythm helps the song feel spirited and empowering, even if it isnt outright joyous. Opera singer Esme Bronwen-Smith, bandmember Rick Smiths daughter, delivers a spoken monologue related to Roman history on "Ottavia," and Nina Nastasia guests on the haunting downtempo number "Iron Bones." The delicate acoustic closer "Stick Man Test" makes the entire journey end up feeling more like a soundtrack than a standard album. ~ Paul Simpson

『Drift』シリーズ以来5年ぶりとなったニュー・アルバム。ここのところアート寄りだったり、コンセプト先行だったりと、それはそれでとても彼ららしいのだけど、やっぱりテクノ新幹線、もとい"Techno Shinkansen"を待っていたファンも多いことでしょう。続くシングル曲"And The Colour Red"で畳みかける感じといい、二人とも還暦過ぎてるのが信じられません。
bounce (C)野村有正