控えめに言っても『Another World』（2010年）以降の3人は一歩先の世界に踏み込んで、自然にアーバン方面のトレンドを消化吸収した作品をコンスタントに輩出してきているわけだが、エレクトロニックへの傾倒からヒューマンなソウル方面に揺り戻した『Timeless』（2014年）に続くこの新作でも、舵取りは文句ナシ。プリンスの某曲ばりにキュートでファンキーな先行シングル“FANTASY”をはじめ、これまでの経験も踏まえて粋な持ち味を昨今のソウル／ディスコ／ファンク再考のなかに落とし込むスタイリングの巧さは、付け焼き刃なアレコレとは似て非なるカッコ良さ。曲調の多様さから各人の表情がはっきり浮かんでくるのもいい。特にデバージ調のメロウ・ミッド“I'm all yours”はもう何回も聴いてます。最高。


[English Translation]
The hugely popular vocal unit with lots of followers in Asia, w-inds. has disclosed the latest full-length album. As you might be aware the 3-piece band apparently took a step forward (to say the least) with the release of “Another World (2010)” and since then, has been constantly delivering numbers that have naturally digested and absorbed the trends of the urban field. Following the previous “Timeless (2014)” where they made a drastic comeback from the deeply-into-electronic approach to a more human-touched soul sound, the new release perfectly affirms that they are in the right direction now as well. As the pre-released single “FANTASY” (cute and funky as Prince’s famous tune) represents, the album brilliantly puts the group’s characteristics, coming from their rich musical experiences, into the currently re-recognized stream of soul/disco/funk in a fabulously stylish manner, - cool in a way that is somewhat familiar to, but totally different from all those overnight-made styles. Great to find various type of tracks vividly delivering each member’s feature as well. Among all, I’ve been listening to DeBarge-ish mellow-mid “I’m all yours” over and over already. SO good.