Liminal

ビーティ・ウルフとブライアン・イーノによる、『Lateral』と『Luminal』に続く、プロジェクト3作目。
『Luminal』が「ドリーム・ミュージック」、『Lateral』が「スペース・ミュージック」と形容される中、『Liminal』は「ダーク・マター・ミュージック」と位置付けられていており、これまでの2作を統合するような内容。
ブライアンとビーティの言葉を借りれば「「LiminalはLateralとLuminalの交差点に位置しています。Lateralが風景画のような音の場所なら、Luminalは夢のような覚醒、感情の空間です。Liminalは両者のハイブリッドであり、謎めいた空間を人間が生き、感じながら進む不思議な新天地です。リミナルは、歌と非歌(または「ノン」と呼ぶ)の境界領域に設定されており、聴き手は未開拓で曖昧な新たな音の世界を探索しています。まだ主張されていない、まだ曖昧な世界です」とのこと。

Brian Enos collaboration with singer/songwriter, conceptual artist, and activist Beatie Wolfe began with two simultaneously issued 2025 albums, the lengthy ambient work Lateral and a collection of dreamy pop songs titled Luminal. Liminal appeared just a few months later, and its sort of the middle ground between the styles of the first two albums. Most of the songs slowly unfold with gentle guitar strokes and hushed vocals, both of which are electronically enhanced and stretched out. Liminal does feature a few more experimental pieces than Luminal, however, with "Ringing Ocean" focusing on a simple pattern which slides downward, and "Flower Woman" layering cooing vocal patterns and loops. The instrumental "Procession" is a joyous highlight, spinning in space around a dancing bassline, awash with spacey echo. "Laundry Room" is a spoken rumination about unspoken feelings and unresolved issues, returning to the metaphor of clothes being unable to dry. "Corona" is a soothing ambient piece containing reversed and extended notes. Other songs like "Little Boy" and "Shallow Form" are more like lullabies, with Wolfe (and sometimes Eno) intimately whisper-singing while suspended in an ethereal glow. So far, Liminal is the strangest of the Wolfe/Eno collaborative efforts, playing around with sonics and textures while still retaining an air of familiarity. ~ Paul Simpson