Bury the Key＜限定盤/Muck Vinyl＞

2020年以来となるフルアルバムGhostly Internationalからリリース。このアルバムはこれまで封じ込めていた感情と向き合って幸福や快楽、そして自己破壊の間で揺れる感情のやり取りを描いている。迫りくる時代の気配と年齢を重ねて得たクリアな視点を通して、TOPSは今作でより不穏なディスコの世界へと踏み込み、これまでのソフィスティ・ポップに研ぎ澄まされたエッジを加えている。

Following their self-released fourth album, I Feel Alive, which, ironically, arrived a couple weeks into COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020, Montreal experimental pop darlings TOPS self-released a follow-up EP, then two of their members embarked on solo efforts. When the band reconvened for another album, they worked more collaboratively than in the past, eventually ending up with a conflicted group of songs with a dark side, touching on everything from the pursuit of happiness to self-destruction and from intimacy to toxic relationships and existential dread. The quartet signed with Ghostly International for the release of the resulting Bury the Key, an album that also finds them slightly expanding their oddball sophisti-pop sound. After opening the record with the grooving, pining pop of "Stars Come After You" -- a song that already has a confrontational bridge -- they lean into disco on a track like "Annihilation," with its synthetic bursts of strings, Bernard Edwards-descended basslines, and urgent hi-hat patterns. Elsewhere, a track such as "Chlorine" sounds like it could be a hit from the early 80s of Berlin and Sheena Easton, and "Falling on My Sword" moves from an unexpected semi-post-punk into a lite metal before the end. Although not a first for the band, "Your Ride" counters with a substantial flute solo. Keeping it all seamless is TOPS distinctive aural universe, led by the breathy, yearning vocal delivery of main songwriter Jane Penny and cushiony arrangements of keyboards, smooth funk guitar, and steady, boxy pop drums. All the while, Bury the Key stays rooted in its own time with an unease that never settles: closer "Paper House" parts ways with lyrics like "Play it cool, like Im the one who chose it" and "On the cusp, but its just another weekday" before ending on a unison descending pitch bend. ~ Marcy Donelson

レトロでソフトなポップサウンドを聴かせるモントリオールのインディー・ポップバンド、TOPSの5作目は＜Ghostly International＞よりリリース。これまでの洗練されたポップスに、甘美でディスコ風なグルーヴが加わりバンドとしての表現のバリエーションが広がったなと驚きました。可憐なJaneのボーカルとディストピア感溢れる音世界はとても刺激的でセンセーショナル。メンバーが『邪悪なTOPS』と名づけたエピソードにもあるように、彼らのソフト・フォーカスで洗練されたポップに鋭いエッジ効かせた作品となっています。進化を遂げたバンドの今を是非体感してください。
intoxicate (C)石田真生