Trouble

At the end of the 1970s, when Gina Birch co-founded the Raincoats, punk rock was a liberating force that gave thousands of would-be musicians license to pick up a guitar -- or whatever instrument was handy -- and make inspired noise regardless of their technical skill. Birch and her bandmates had a lot to say, and they were convinced you didnt need to play like Eric Clapton to make yourself understood. In 2025, for many creatives, electronic music had usurped punk in giving novice musicians the tools to build songs without first spending years studying technique, and Birch has certainly kept up with the times. 2025s Trouble, her second solo album since returning to making music in the 2020s, had traded the inspired amateurism of the Raincoats for clean electronic textures and insistent percussion loops, crafted with the help of producer Youth, who was also at the controls for 2023s I Play My Bass Loud and certainly counts as an authority in electronic music-making. Trouble does manage to adapt Birchs simple but effective melodic sense to these digital soundscapes; the ghostly voices hovering over the sustained keyboard lines in "Happiness" certainly fall into her wheelhouse, the electro-punk of "Causing Trouble Again" is a vital call to arms (especially in its litany of powerful female artists and thinkers), and the ambient pulse of "Keep to the Left" and the dub-wise "Doom Monger" put a contemporary filter on sounds and moods that are second nature to her. (And "Cello Song" warmly recalls the Raincoats idiosyncratic use of the violin.) If Birch is a different artist today than in the heyday of the Raincoats, its in her lyrics; where she was once outspoken but willing to make plentiful use of irony and metaphor, shes much more upfront about whats on her mind, clearly certain were living in times where stakes for the future are high and theres no point in mincing words. "Causing Trouble Again," "Keep to the Left," and "Doom Monger" are polemics with a sense of purpose, and "Dont Fight Your Friends" speaks to the need for solidarity in hard times. Birch was nearly 70 years old when Trouble was released, and the passage of time is clearly a concern to her as well, as "Happiness" and "Train Platform" address, respectively, the need to find joy in chaotic times and the dangerous prospects of pondering an uncertain future. Gina Birch has always been a brave and clear-minded voice as a writer, musician, and artist, and Trouble leaves no doubt that shes rabble-rousing for the right reasons, and making compelling music at the same time. ~ Mark Deming

前作に引き続き、ユースのプロデュースの下、サード・マンからリリースしたソロ第2弾。ドローン・フォーキーな"Happiness"をはじめ、キャリアのスタートとなった伝説のポスト・パンク・バンド、レインコーツから変わらない発想をヒップホップのビートも交えてアップデート。"Don't Fight Your Friends"ではウィスパー・ヴォイスでラップも披露。姦しいコーラスも彼女らしい。
bounce (C)山口智男