1981年スコットランドはグラスゴーで結成されたTHE BLUE NILE。

前作から5年を経た2作目。結果としてバンドの最も美しいアルバムとして評価される一枚に仕上がった本作は、Q MAGAZINEで五つ星を獲得するなど絶賛を受けた永遠の名盤。耳に心地良く、ひとり落ち着く夜に優しく包み込まれるようなサウンドを湛えたと評された、80年代後半を代表する傑作です。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2024/10/18）

Five long years in the making, the Blue Nile's stellar Hats was well worth the wait; sweeping and majestic, it's a triumph of personal vision over the cold, remote calculations of technology. While created almost solely without benefit of live instruments, it is nevertheless an immensely warm and human album; Paul Buchanan's plaintive vocals and poignant songs are uncommonly moving, and his deployment of lush synth washes and electronic percussion is never gratuitous, each song instead crafted with painterly precision. Impressionistic and shimmering, tracks like "The Downtown Lights" and "From a Late Night Train" are perfectly evocative of their titles: Rich in romantic atmosphere and detail, they conjure a nocturnal fantasy world lit by neon and shrouded in fog, leaving Hats an intensely cinematic experience as well as a masterpiece of musical obsession. ~ Jason Ankeny

Rovi