Everything Else Has Gone Wrong

活動休止から3年!全英1位を獲得した前作『So Long, See You Tomorrrow』以来通算5枚目となる待望のスタジオ・アルバム!

グラミー受賞経験もある名匠、John Congleton(St.Vincent、War On Drugs他)がプロデュースを手掛け、主にアメリカでレコーディングが行なわれた。多幸感溢れる先行トラック「Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)」のミュージック・ビデオはウクライナで撮影され、映像作家はバンドの友人でもありTom MischやLoyle Carneer等の映像を手掛けるLouis Bhoseが担当。

If the question of whether a rock band can really get better with age is still up for debate, Bombay Bicycle Club make the best possible case. Coming off a three-year hiatus, the London quartet return with their fifth studio album, 2020s Everything Else Has Gone Wrong. The album arrives six years after the equally inspired So Long, See You Tomorrow and finds the group in a deeply ruminative mindset, looking back at their over ten-year career and grappling with getting older, experiencing renewed artistic inspiration, and moving forward in a world that seems beset by conflict, tragedy, and unrest. Its a nuanced, sophisticated mood best expressed on Good Day, a warmly hushed anthem in which lead singer Jack Steadman perfectly encapsulates how your worries about the state of the world can become intertwined with your innermost personal concerns. He sings, First my looks and now my friends, day by day Im losing them, losing them, losing collagen, losing elastin/The melting ice caps in my dreams, made me stop and think about, think about time running out. They sustain this tone throughout Everything Else Has Gone Wrong, illuminating it with fuzzy analog keyboards, neon-rich guitars, and kinetic percussion rhythms. Cuts like Is It Real, Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You), and the slow-burn title track are anthems that sparkle in slow motion, balancing the groups love of driving krautrock, folk music, and angular post-punk. There are also ear-popping horn and string flourishes, as on the looped saxophone intro to Get Up, which lends the album an underlying modern creative jazz and classical texture. While much of the emotion at the center of Everything Else Has Gone Wrong feels borne out of a period of dark introspection, theres a low-key ebullience and overall strength to the music that speaks to Bombay Bicycle Clubs renewed sense of purpose. With each song, you can hear them coming further back to life. As Steadman sings on the title track, I guess Ive found my peace again and yes, Ive found my second wind. ~ Matt Collar

各方面で絶賛された前作から6年ぶりの新作はセイント・ヴィンセントらを手掛け、グラミー受賞歴もあるジョン・コングルトンがプロデュース。彼ららしい〈インディー・プログレ〉な音世界は健在で、ジャーマン・ロック的なアナログ・シンセ音やミニマルや変調子などさまざまなリズム・パターンを駆使しつつ、前作に比べて音全体に力があり、より感情的だ。歌詞がシリアスだが最終的にポップにまとめているところは流石。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二