Small Talk

シカゴ出身のデュオ、ホイットニーの4枚目のアルバム『スモール・トーク』は、紛れもなく最高傑作であり、最も感動的な作品！

10年間、スミス・ウェスタンズ、そしてホイットニーでルームメイト兼バンドメイトとして活動してきたジュリアン・エーリッヒとマックス・カカチェクは、2024年の夏、プロデューサーを置かずにスタジオに入り、様々な仲間が参加しました。その結果、2つのレベルで喜びを分かち合える、白熱した11曲が誕生しました。このアルバムには、瞬く間にホイットニーの定番曲となった曲、彼らが常に紡いできた心のこもったメロディックな響きを揺さぶる曲、そして彼らがどれほど進化の余地を与えてきたかを物語る曲が数多く収録されています。

After making a name for themselves, including charting on the Billboard independent, rock, and alternative lists, with their warm, mellifluous take on vintage folk- and country-rock, Whitney -- singer/drummer Julien Ehrlich and guitarist Max Kakacek -- experimented with lush electronics and even hip-hop beats on their fourth album, SPARK. Arriving three years later, Small Talk marks a glowing return to inviting organic textures on a philosophical album informed by breakups and broader lessons learned. It was recorded without an outside producer -- a first for Whitney, at the encouragement of prior producer Brad Cook -- in a barn in Newberg, Oregon, that contained recording gear collected over the years by Ehrlicks father (also a drummer), including a tape machine of Juliens. They set to work on the album with a plan to rent anything else they needed in nearby Portland. The resulting 11-track set starts off with a gently swinging piano chord progression on "Silent Exchange," a song set at a funeral, with lyrics like "Bite my tongue/When they ask how Ive been" and "Im gonna try my best to survive in this place." It gradually adds bass, guitar, strings, keyboards, and horns in a sleek, syncopated arrangement that keeps the pianos rhythm at its core. This palette lays the groundwork for Small Talk, although the rest of the album is more fully orchestrated with drums, as Ehrlichs smooth falsetto matter-of-factly processes realizations and bittersweet affirmations like "People change, its okay, nothings wrong/We knew it all along" ("Back to the Wind") and "Theres no bitterness at all/Its no one elses fault/I let it slip away" ("Dandelions"), alongside lively rhythms, swooping slide guitar riffs, and wistful strings. The duo stretch their experimental wings a little on a song like "Evangeline" (featuring Madison Cunningham), whose orchestral, (MIDI) timpani-bolstered bombast emphasizes more of the albums regretful sentiments. Equally appropriate for heartbroken solitude, low-key hangouts, or peaceful Sunday afternoons, even at its most conflicted Small Talk feels like a warm embrace. ~ Marcy Donelson