Mother

イギリスを拠点に活動し、Saultのヴォーカリストとしても知られるネオ・ソウル・シンガー=クレオ・ソルのセカンド・アルバムのアナログ盤。
前作『Rose In The Dark』に続いてSaultのメインコンポーザーとしても注目を集めるInfloがプロデュースを手掛けた本作は、タイトルやジャケ通り母親となった彼女の内面──子供の誕生に伴うエクスタシー、自らの母親に対する共感と恨みのないまぜになった感情、母親としての成長など──をオーガニックでメロウなソウル・サウンドに乗せて表現した素晴らしい一枚。ジャズ、R&B、ゴスペル、アコースティック・ポップが溶け合ったゆったりとしたサウンドとスイートなヴォーカルにどこまでも浸ることができる内容です。

Cleo Sols second solo flight in as many years followed the third, fourth, and fifth albums she made with main musical partner Inflo and company as Sault. One of the trio, Untitled (Rise), was shortlisted for the 2021 Mercury Prize. That Mother is an engrossing double album -- and was in the chamber before the June 2021 arrival of Saults fifth album, Nine -- is yet more evidence of Cleo Sol and Inflos high levels of productivity and quality control. Like Rose in the Dark, this was written almost exclusively by the duo together and produced entirely by Inflo, with no further information provided. Its essentially another set of out-of-time soul ballads, yet its somehow both more concentrated and expansive, eliciting comparisons to Roberta Flack and Carole King at their most intimate and inviting, and the concurrent productions of Charles Stepney, whether its the spirited group choruses or the harp glissandi. Thats not to say Mother isnt its own thing. Take how it starts, with Cleo flashing back to a childhood in an abusive home, asking for comfort, and offering some of her own with loving advice -- all over one of the albums several backdrops that takes slight if deliberate turns, gradually advances and recedes in intensity, and folds in elements liable to activate tear ducts. In the second song, Cleo sings of romantic desertion, attesting Im still here with as much steadiness as the drum pattern beneath her voice. Afterward, she sings mostly of gratitude, motherly love, and reassurance, always with tenderness and resolve. While Sunshine is worthy of its title with its soft glow and sense of essential renewal, and Spirit is a grand finale, the albums emotional apex is located elsewhere. 23 is made of sweet soul that dazzles with a melodious bassline, mallets, harp, and other strings in full effect. The music facilitates Cleos difficult talk with her mother, in which the singer makes known her pain, frustration, and sympathy without equivocation. ~ Andy Kellman

西ロンドンのソングストレスから1年半ぶりに届いた新作。2枚目のフル・アルバムで、彼女も参加するソーのインフローが引き続きプロデュースしているのでリトル・シムズの新作も連想するが、マーヴィン・ゲイ風ニュー・ソウルな"23"を含め、今作では70年代前半のキャロル・キングにも似た女性シンガー/ソングライター風情を貫く。ピアノを基調にビートも入れつつ、ギター、パーカッション、ストリングスなどを丁寧に織り込んだ静謐でメロウな音色と共に母となった心情を優しい歌声で綴っていく楽曲群は余韻までもが味わい深く、"Build Me Up"などに登場するホーリーなコーラスも相まって俗世を離れたような清廉さがある。母の胸に抱かれて眠る赤子の気分で聴き入るタイムレスな逸品だ。
bounce (C)林 剛