There Is Love In You

Kieran Hebden's first Four Tet full-length in four years comes after a parade of collaboration albums, DJ dates, remixes, and one EP that sounded strikingly like John Carpenter soundtracking the original Halloween film. Appropriately, There Is Love in You is a reset album, one where Hebden pares his music down to the essentials. (Sorry, no dubstep workouts or pastoral ballads to be found here.) It's the most natural he's sounded on record in years, much more assured than Everything Ecstatic, which bore the brunt of Hebden's wish to snip the folktronica tag by floating an array of (somewhat) iconoclastic tracks. Here, the music consists of little more than soft tones, muted beats, and overlaid music-box melodies. Perhaps not a recipe for greatness, but in keeping with the axiom that a great artist can always shine no matter the materials or medium, There Is Love in You is an accomplished, beautiful record (despite the lack of shiny bits). Vocals, where they appear, are wordless and textural; the few samples are glitchy but warm and hypnotic. The nine-minute single "Love Cry" sounds like Carl Craig's Innerzone Orchestra making an epic children's record. Overall, There Is Love in You has the spartan precision of Phillip Glass but also, surprisingly, the warmth and vitality of classic Cluster as well. From his debut, Hebden has always made the more alien side of electronic music sound warm and inviting; this not only accomplishes that, but ranks with his best. ~ John Bush

エレクトロニカ以降のフォークのありようを大きく変えた張本人による新作。じつに5年ぶりです。近年は、フリー・ジャズ・ドラマーとのコラボやフリッジの再始動などで音楽神経の高さを披露していましたが、ここに来てフロア対応抜群のミニマル・テクノの応酬です。ジャジーなビートに女性ボーカルが切りこむ《Love Cry》の昂揚感も圧巻だが、やはりメランコリックな輝きが核であり、やさしく耳を撫でまわします。なかでもジャーマン・エクスペリメンタルなまどろみにとろける《The Unfolds》は、瑞々しすぎて究極のレム睡眠を誘います。
intoxicate (C)久保正樹

フォークトロニカの生みの親が5年ぶりとなるオリジナル作をリリースした。ひたすら打ち付けられるハンマー・ビートで脳は次第に酩酊状態に突入。さらに、ギターやハープなどさまざまな音が万華鏡のようにサイケデリックな輝きを放ち、乱反射しながら降り注ぐと、そこには未体験のサウンドスケープが! 〈エレクトロニカの到達点を超えた〉と絶賛された前作を軽々と凌駕し、クリック好きも巻き込む音作りは流石です。
bounce (C)大久保洋二