坂本龍一、Laurel Haloなどの著名な音楽家と関わりを持ってきたアーティスト/サックス奏者、Anenon。その最新作『Moons Melt Milk Light』は、彼の新たな一面を垣間見させてくれる、一冊の短編小説集のような美しい作品です。

前作『Tongue』(2018)での緻密なサウンドデザインとは打って変わって、今作はすべて即興で演奏され、録音はすべて編集なしのファーストテイクかセカンドテイクとのこと。
それゆえか、静謐な楽曲のなかにも瑞々しさや、ある種の躍動感・勢いが感じられます。

音像も、例えばピアノの録音の美しさに対し、管楽器は逆に「Moons Melt Milk Light」や「Night Painting I」をはじめ、どこか荒々しさ・ざらつきが生々しく残るなど、異なる様相が同居する面白さを秘めています。
こうした音の輪郭やディティールへのセンスあふれるこだわりぶりは、少年時代の彼がヒップホップに熱中した経験に依るところも大きいかもしれません。

また、物語を感じさせるフィールドレコーディングの効果的な使い方もポイントでしょう。
環境音がエンディングへの起伏を生む「Untitled Skies」、逆に導入としてアルバムのアクセントとなる「As it is When it Appears」や「Champeix」をはじめ、リスナーの耳を最後まで惹き続ける工夫に満ちています。

前述したように、本作は短い即興演奏を軸にした作品ですが、そうした音源に決してスケッチ的でない説得力を持たせ、一枚のアルバムとしてまとめあげる彼の編集力に私は本当に驚かされました。
ごく簡潔な味付けが最大限の効果を生むという、まさに彼のプロデューサーとしての最上級の仕事でしょう。

彼の魅力が様々な角度から味わえる本作が、より多くのリスナーに届くことを願います。[TOMC]


Artist/saxophonist Anenon has been associated with such luminaries as Ryuichi Sakamoto and Laurel Halo, and his latest work, Moons Melt Milk Light, is a beautiful collection of short stories that offers a glimpse into a new side of him.

In contrast to the meticulous sound design of his previous work, Tongue (2018), this album is entirely improvised, with all recordings being unedited first or second takes.
Perhaps this gives the music a freshness and a certain liveliness and vitality.

The sound is also interesting in that different aspects coexist, for example, while the piano is beautifully recorded, the wind instruments, including "Moons Melt Milk Light" and "Night Painting I," are somewhat rough, leaving a raw impression.
His attention to detail and the contours of the sound may be due in large part to his childhood passion for hip-hop.

Another key point is the effective use of field recordings that evoke a sense of storytelling.
The album is full of ingenious ways to keep the listener's ears engaged until the very end, including "Untitled Skies," in which environmental sounds create the ups and downs of the ending, and "As it is When it Appears" and "Champeix," which conversely serve as introductions and accents to the album.

As mentioned above, this album is based on short improvisations, but I was really surprised by his editing ability to make these sources convincing and not sketchy, and to put them together as an album.
It is truly his superlative work as a producer, where the briefest of tastes can have the greatest possible effect.

I hope that this album, which offers his charm from many different angles, will reach more listeners.

[TOMC]