Brace for Impact

『Brace for Impact』は、2022年10月14日にフロンティアーズから出た第3作で、プロデュースはバンド自身が引き受けた。制作の日程はきれいに記録されている。作曲を始めたのが2021年8月、年内に書き終え、2022年1月をまるごと編曲と事前準備に充て、2月の第1週から録音に入った。ケント・ヒッリはこの作品を「PERFECT PLAN 3.0」と呼び、方向については何も決めずに書き始めた、ただ結果としてロッカーが前より増え、全体に少し硬くなった、と説明している。バラードは一曲だけだ。曲作りの目標はいつも同じで、ジュークボックスで曲を選んでいるような感触にしたい、という。 “Surrender”が扉を開け、先行公開された“If Love Walks In”と“Can't Let You Win”が続く。“Gotta Slow Me Down”“Stop The Bleed”の推進、題名どおりの“Devil's Got The Blues”、“Bring Me A Doctor”“Still Undefeated”を経て、“Emelie”から“Walk Through Fire”で全11曲53分が閉じる。編成は前作と同じ5人。反応は割れた。過去最高と呼ぶ声がある一方で、フランスのある評者は、初期にあった新鮮さが型に収まってしまったと書いている。

Brace for Impact is the third album, released by Frontiers on 14 October 2022 and produced by the band themselves. The schedule is cleanly documented: writing began in August 2021 and was finished by the end of the year; the whole of January 2022 went to arrangements and pre-production; recording started in the first week of February. Kent Hilli called the record "Perfect Plan 3.0" and explained that they set no direction before writing — it simply came out with more rockers than before and slightly harder overall. There is exactly one ballad. The goal in writing an album, he said, is always the same: it should feel like choosing songs on a jukebox. "Surrender" opens the door, followed by the advance singles "If Love Walks In" and "Can't Let You Win." The push of "Gotta Slow Me Down" and "Stop The Bleed," a track called exactly what it sounds like in "Devil's Got The Blues," then "Bring Me A Doctor" and "Still Undefeated" lead through "Emelie" to "Walk Through Fire," closing eleven songs in 53 minutes. The line-up is the same five as before. Reactions split: some called it their best yet, while one French reviewer wrote that the freshness of the early records had settled into a mould.