ストリーミング総数が2憶2千万回を突破し、UKチャートで3週連続1位をマーク、4月上旬の時点で全米2位も記録している大ヒット曲“7 Years”が、なるほど胸を打つ。亡き父親に自身の人生を重ねた同バラードはとにかく歌詞が良く、泣きのヴォーカルと繊細なピアノの音も相まってグッときてしまうのだ。このように楽曲そのものの力で広く知られることとなったデンマークの4人組、ルーカス・グラハム。本作は昨年に自国で発表された2作目をベースとする世界進出盤である。どの曲もメロディーと言葉に味わいがあり、ソウルの成分を多めに含んだポップ・ロックといった感じ。なかにはマルーン5っぽい軽快な曲もあって明るい気分にもなるが、それ以上に喪失感が滲み出たスロウに彼らの個性が濃く表れていると思う。何しろいまどき珍しいくらいに誠実な雰囲気が伝わってくるグループ。アルバム全体の流れも非常に良く、ゴスペル感覚の感動的な最終曲まで聴く者の心を捉えて離さない。
[English Translation]
The massive hit song “7 Years” -which has recorded more than 220 million streams, topped the UK charts for three weeks in a row, and also marked No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as of early April- surely touches our hearts. The ballad on which the band’s frontman Lukas Graham Forchhammer sings about his own life seeing it in his late father’s has really good lyrics, and is extremely moving, combined with the emotional voice and delicate piano sounds. As described above, the Danish four-piece band Lukas Graham has become widely known for the allure of the song itself. This album is their debut release gaining entry to the world market, which is produced based on their 2nd album released in Denmark last year. Each number has intriguing words and melodies of depth, giving the impression of pop rock containing extra elements of soul music. Though some bouncy tunes including a Maroon-5-ish number will brighten us up, I think the band’s distinctiveness is displayed significantly especially on their slow-tempo numbers exuding a sense of loss. Overall, this group has an atmosphere of honesty, which seems even unusual nowadays. The flow of the whole album is built fairly well, and captures listeners’ hearts, not to let them go until the very end of the poignant, gospel-inflected song at the end.
