久々にBLACK SMOKERからのリリースとなる5枚目のフル・アルバム。〈毎度健やかにドープ〉と宣言する“Here We Dope”で幕を開ける本作は、新世代ジャズ勢と共振する変則的なビートを軸としたイルな世界観はそのままながら、曲調はポップなものも増えていて、開かれた印象を覚える。タイトルでオマージュを捧げたオーネット・コールマンの名作にも通じる、革新性と大衆性の同居した一枚だ。
[English Translation]
skillkills make their first return in years to revered Japanese hip-hop label Black Smoker with their fifth full-length album. Opening with “Here We Dope,” a firm statement about the three-piece band’s stoned nature, “The Shape of Dope to Come” keeps their characteristic, unhinged aesthetic, which is centred on off-kilter beats that resonate with their peers in new generation jazz. Yet the pop sensibility of some of the tracks nonetheless seems to lend accessibility to the album. Like Ornette Colman’s masterpiece, to which its title pays homage, “The Shape of Dope to Come” is a harmonious coexistence of peculiar innovation and popular appeal.
