Dreamsicle

グラミー賞受賞シンガー・ソングライター=マレン・モリス 待望のニュー・アルバム『D R E A M S I C L E』

グラミー賞受賞のシンガー・ソングライター=マレン・モリス待望の4枚目のスタジオ・アルバム『D R E A M S I C L E』。
マレン・モリスがジュリア・マイケルズとトビアス・ジェッソ・ジュニアと共に書いた楽曲を収録し、プロデュースはジャック・アントノフとグレッグ・カースティンが手掛けている。世界中で46億回以上のストリーミングを記録し、カントリー・ラジオで4曲のNo.1ヒットを放ち、限界に挑戦し続ける彼女が、変容、困難を乗り越える力、自己発見を深くよりパーソナルに探求した最新作。

Maren Morris embraces her inner pop diva on her fourth album, 2025s sweetly flavored and chockablock with hooks Dreamsicle. While she made her name in Nashville, scoring big country-soul hits like "My Church," Morris has never been just a country singer. Its a feeling she underscored with her 2018 hit with Zedd "The Middle" and her effusive 2019 duet with Hozier "The Bones." Yet its that earthy country soulfulness that is her hallmark, especially when working through lifes struggles as she did on 2022s Humble Quest, an album that found her celebrating the birth of her first child and working through her feelings over the end of her marriage. While theres nothing as life-changing at the core of Dreamsicle, Morris nonetheless conjures big emotions that feel as grounded and real as anything shes done. Working with a close group of production collaborators, including Greg Kurstin, Jack Antonoff, Joel Little, Evan Blair, and others, Morris leans into a sonically varied vibe, moving between big melodic pop songs full of glassy 80s-inspired synths and buzzy, dayglow guitars and more intimately rendered numbers, many of which are imbued with a righteous, female-empowered energy. Part of the joy in Dreamsicle is hearing how good Morris throaty, powerful vocal coo sounds when matched with a clubby groove, as on the sparkling 1975-esque "Cry in the Car." Theres a sense that shes breaking away from both musical genre constraints and more personal emotional ones. Its a feeling she underscores on "Cut!," her ebullient duet with singer Julia Michaels that turns the daily life of a working actress into a feminist battle cry. They sing, "Im screaming, Cut!/I need a moment to just let my tears fall where they want." Tearful emotions do fall, even as Morris contrasts her heartbreak with infectious choruses, as she does on "Bed, No Breakfast" and "Push Me Over." There are also some interesting moments of musical experimentation, as in "People Still Show Up" with its jazzy, Steely Dan-esque bass line. Smartly, Morris also doesnt completely let go of her country roots, and tracks like "Too Good," with its multi-tracked, Dolly Parton harmonies and the delicately sparkling acoustic title-track, have a genuine Nashville singer/songwriter quality. She also balances the albums sugary highs with songs that dig deep into heartbreak, as on "This is How a Woman Leaves," her voice trembling with raw pathos. With Dreamsicle, Morris has made an album thats less of a statement about walking away from Nashville and country music and more about the transcendent creative freedom that comes with knowing who you are. ~ Matt Collar

カントリー界からの引退を宣言したり、私生活では離婚するなど、いろいろ経ての3年ぶりのアルバム。自身を敵視する業界への反発も原動力に、従来の作風と地続きながらもより解放的なアプローチに臨んでいる。カントリー歌手として圧倒的に優れた声質や歌い口の魅力が、ジョエル・リトルやジャック・アントノフらの多彩な音作りでしっかり活かされた佳作だ。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ