シカゴ・ディープ・ハウスの巨匠Ron Trentが贈る『Lift Off』の完結編。Part Twoには5つの傑作トラックを収録。AMラジオを思わせる温かみのある「Just Another Love Song」、ヘッドホンで聴きたくなる宇宙的な「Juice」、バレアリックな「And Fly Away」など、多様なサウンドスケープが広がる。

注目は2つのコラボレーション。Rush Hour所属のLars Bartkuhnがギターで参加した「Street Wave」は、ジャズ・ファンクとフュージョンの要素を取り入れた未来型ハウス。シカゴ・ハウスのレジェンドJungle WonzのHarry Dennisがヴォーカルを担当した「Her」は、詩的な語りと情感溢れるサウンドが融合した特別な1曲。

35年のキャリアで培ったRon Trentの音楽哲学が詰まった作品。豊かなリズム、温かいコード、完璧な楽器配置という彼の特徴を保ちつつ、過去と未来のダンス・ミュージックの境界を曖昧にする。2022年のダウンテンポ傑作『What Do The Stars Say To You』とは異なる、よりエネルギッシュなアプローチが光る。

Part Oneと合わせて聴くことで、Ron Trentの音楽的ビジョンが完結する。ハウス・ミュージックの新たな可能性を示す、ファン必携の1枚。

A1. Just Another Love Song
A2. Juice
B1. And Fly Away
C1. Street Wave (feat Lars Bartkuhn)
D1. Her

After five years spent largely confined to the United States, Ron Trent is set to return to global touring in 2025. To mark the occasion, he’s partnered with Rush Hour to release Lift Off, a brand-new album of music recorded at different points over the last decade.

Arriving almost 35 years since he wowed the world with his game-changing debut, the Afterlife EP, Lift Off was inspired by Trent’s desire to ‘let the imagination speak for itself’ while exploring the diverse influences that have shaped his unique musical perspective. A departure from his previous album, 2022’s downtempo masterpiece as Warm, What Do The Stars Say To You, the 10-track set features a mixture of epic instrumentals, inspired collaborations and vocal cuts whose music was written with certain singers in mind.

 While it features music that ripples with the experienced producer’s familiar aural trademarks – rich rhythms, warm chords, impeccable instrumentation, inspired arrangements, and lashings of heady hand percussion – it also consciously explores a variety of sounds and tempos, in the process blurring the lines between the past, present, and future. It’s a vision, in his words, of what dance music can become.

For proof, check the five tremendous tracks on part two. There’s the AM radio-ready warmth, guitar-flecked looseness, and eyes-closed bliss of ‘Just Another Love Song’, where Trent’s own multi-tracked vocals catch the ear, the slow-motion, head-nodding deep space bliss of ‘Juice’ and alternative Balearic love song ‘And Fly Away’.

Part two of the vinyl edition also includes two superb collaborations. Fellow Rush Hour artist Lars Bartkuhn lends his virtuoso guitar skills to ‘Street Wave’, a future house classic laden with nods to jazz-funk and fusion, while regular collaborator Harry Dennis (best known for his work as part of early Chicago house outfit Jungle Wonz) adds a poetic and emotion-filled spoken word vocal to the equally inspired ‘Her’.