Age/Sex/Location＜Blue Vinyl＞

J. Cole率いるDreamvilleのシンガー、アリ・レノックスの最新作アナログ盤！ネオソウルと黄金期R&Bを混在させソウルフルな歌でまとめ上げる傑作！Summer Walker, Lucky Daye, Chloe Bailey等がゲスト参加。

Ari Lennox notched some personal firsts when she and fellow Dreamville affiliate Elite connected with R&B legends Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Johnta Austin, and newcomer JaiLen Josey, to make the lead single off her second album. The singer and songwriters most cross-generational collaboration, "Pressure" went Top 20 R&B/hip-hop and Top Ten R&B, topped the Adult R&B chart, and crossed into the Hot 100, all milestones. Appealing as it is, teaching, teasing, and inquiring with acerbic wit and sly audacity, "Pressure" is inessential to the excellence of Age/Sex/Location. Thats a testament to the strength of what surrounds the hit in the sequence. ASL begins with "POF," an indication of the creative way Lennox consistently stirs together themes of independence, sexual agency, and bullshit detection. Its Badu-ist philosophy with a lithe, neck-swaying groove to match. (The only cut co-produced by Dreamville operator J. Cole, its one of few not involving Elite, who was key to the preceding Shea Butter Baby.) The Badu influence on Lennox hasnt been clearer, but the song is also a showcase for some of Lennoxs most striking vocals and her strongest, pithiest writing -- singular qualities that remain throughout the album. Most illuminating are the slow jams that, like a few songs off the debut, either repurpose or evoke mellow R&B and jazz grooves from the late 70s. In "Mean Mug," finished off with a gentle trumpet solo, Lennox is enraptured and vulnerable, observing "Theres a magic in your eyes," then isnt above being petty or possessive, advising with "Blockin you, baby, if I cant have you to myself." The burrowing bassline on "Hoodie" neatly complements the way Lennox seeks permission to get closer to her man, yet she makes it known her guard isnt all the way down, issuing a challenge of her own. "Boy Bye," built on a sample of the Crusaders classic "A Ballad for Joe (Louis)," brings Lennox and Lucky Daye back together again to spar with even greater chemistry than they displayed on "Access Denied." Duet-wise, its a very close second to the Summer Walker-assisted "Queen Space," a steady-knocking finale so authoritative that the titular appellation cant be disputed. ~ Andy Kellman

充実のデビュー作に続くドリームヴィルからの2作目も、ネオ・ソウルと往年の黄金のR&Bフレイヴァーを混在させ、それらをアリのソウル・フィーリング溢れる歌声がまとめ上げる傑作だ。スミフン・ウェッスン"Wrekonize"と同ネタの"Hoodie"やジャーメイン・デュプリらによるソウル使い曲"Pressure"など、前作でも聴けた90～00sのネタものR&Bへの憧憬を披露しつつ、さらに古典ソウルやジャズのヴァイブを纏ってクラシカルな風格も備えている。エリカ・バドゥさながらのジャジー・ソウル"Mean Mug"や、サマー・ウォーカーと歌う"Queen Space"でのシックな佇まいはその最たるものだろう。オーガナイズド・ノイズ製の"Outside"の南部感も良いアクセントだ。R&B愛好家はチェック必須の一枚。
bounce (C)池谷瑛子