【搬运】【译】滚石Rolling Stone评Big Thief 2019年专辑《U.F.O.F.》

搬运自：微信公众号【评论搬一堆】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整） 

翻译：will lin

审译：Tyler Smith

排版：Peter D

Big Thief’s third album UFOF creeps up on you. Unlike their previous LPs — 2016’s Masterpiece and 2017’s Capacity — on which sweet-n-sad folk-rock wrapped you in a warm embrace, UFOF sends a shiver down your spine in its simplicity. The album is 43 minutes of gentle, crackling coos from singer-songwriter-guitarist Adrianne Lenker about what lurks in the unknown (the final “F” in “UFOF” stands for friend). The impact is so quiet you might miss it, but it’s revelatory enough that you can’t escape it.

Big Thief乐队的第三张专辑《UFOF》悄然而至。不像他们之前的LP黑胶唱片——2016年的《Masterpiece（杰作）》和2017年的《Capacity（能力）》，这两张唱片充满甜美而悲伤的民谣摇滚风，给人温暖的感觉。《UFOF》风格简约，能令你全身哆嗦。专辑时长43分钟，歌手兼歌曲作家和吉他手Adrianne Lenker在专辑中浅吟低唱着潜伏在未知中的一切（“UFOF”中的最后一个单词“F”代表朋友）。这种表达很含蓄，你可能捕捉不到，但这种它极具启示性，你无法不注意它。

On the album’s first track, “Contact,” Lenker gently calls out for help from someone named Jodi: “Please turn the pages for me / you seem so free / you know I’m barely, barely…” This song primes the listener for what to expect: an album full of questions, a band seeking answers. It continues on to songs that deal with signature Big Thief themes of love, loss and longing. But this time they seem to move further away from themselves, asking listeners to step into the abyss with them, to come along for the ride as the band searches for a higher meaning.

专辑的第一首歌是“Contact（接触）”，Lenker温柔地请求Jodi的帮助：“为我翻下书页吧/你看上去无拘无束/你知道我正衣不遮体，赤身裸体。”(歌词源自网易云音乐)这首歌一开始就向听众透露了整首歌的线索：一张充满疑问的专辑，一个寻求答案的乐队。Big Thief继续创作那些带有其乐队特色的歌曲，例如爱、失去和渴望之类的主题。但这一次，他们似乎更进一步，走出了自我，邀请听众和他们一起进入深渊，一起奔赴这趟旅程，因为他们想要寻求更深层次的意义。

It can be easy to find yourself lost in the album, songs blending into one another, Lenker’s voice slipping in and out of consciousness. The title track  introduces the concept of aliens, “There will soon be proof / that there is no alien / just a system of truth and lies.” Then comes, “Cattails,” a love letter to aging and the beauty of time passing. And by this point you’re so spellbound by acoustic plucking, ringing amps, and Big Thief’s mystical songwriting that you’re either crying or swaying or, more likely, both at once.

你很容易陷进这张专辑，陷进风格相融的歌曲，陷进Lenker有意识无意识的嗓音。专辑同名曲引入了外星人的概念，“很快 曾有一个外星朋友存在的证据/会消失殆尽/就像谎言与真实一般。”(歌词源自网易云音乐)再说一下“Cattails（香蒲）”这首歌，这是一封情书，献给老去的年华和美丽的旧时光。在这一点上，你很容易沉醉于吉他的拨弦声，振铃声，以及Big Thief神秘的歌曲创作。你会随着音乐，或是哭泣，或是摆动，更有可能既在哭泣也在摆动。

For a moment, on the album’s sixth and most powerful track, “Orange,” the spell is lifted. Lenker has reserved the depths of her voice for this track and finally emerges from a hush to a howl. “Can I close and open once again? / The question that I ask for reassurance.” The next few songs mellow out, but grow more and more haunting. On “Terminal Paradise,” the circle of life and death is examined: “Let me rest, let me go/See my death become a trail/And the trail leads to a flower,” she sings. Then, on the chilling “Jenni,” a ghost fills the space. “Jenni’s in my room,” sings Lenker, over and over again, and as her voice distorts and feedback amplifies you can feel yourself tense, begging to not look under your bed where your very own Jenni may lurk.

曾有一刻，在专辑的第六首歌曲，同时也是最有感染力的歌曲“Orange（橘色）”中，这种使人沉醉的魔力更大了。Lenker在运用她的嗓音传达感情上有所保留，最终从平静转变到了吼叫。“能否让我再一次靠近 再一次打开/那个能够让我安心的问题的答案。”(歌词源自网易云音乐)接下来的几首歌悦耳圆润，但变得越来越令人难忘。歌曲“Terminal Paradise（终点站天堂）”审视了生与死的循环：“让我安息 让我归去/将我的死亡视做一条小径/路的尽头生长着一朵花，”(歌词源自网易云音乐)她这样唱道。接着，在令人恐惧的歌曲“Jenni”中，一个鬼魂游走于整首歌。“Jenni在我的房间，” Lenker一遍又一遍地重复着这句歌词，当她的嗓音扭曲，反馈噪音加强时，你能感觉到自己绷紧的神经，极力抑制着自己不要往床底下看，因为那里可能就潜伏着你自己的Jenni。

Finally, on “Magic Dealer,” the band looks in the mirror and reflects upon what is they are actually searching for, asking their final questions. “Would it hurt? Would it hurt? / to be nearer?” and “Would it help? Would it help? to go deeper?” As the album comes to an end they wonder have they done enough? If they’ve gone so far, is this all there is?

UFOF was made in rural Western Washington in a cozy cabin-like studio. You can almost hear the rainy days and star speckled nights. But mostly you can hear the transcendence of Big Thief as they grapple with characters who come and go, not knowing if they will ever be back, bravely embracing death, and revealing a vulnerability that becomes their biggest strength. Though they travel through the darkness spellbound by life’s biggest mysteries, they manage to emerge more at peace than ever.

最终，在歌曲“Magic Dealer（神奇的商人）”中，乐队望向镜中的自己，看到的是他们真正在寻找的东西，问着他们最后的问题。“当离真相更近时/是否会更痛苦？”以及“当理解得更深时/是否会更有益?”(歌词源自网易云音乐)随着专辑接近尾声，他们想知道是否已经传达了想要传达的东西。如果他们确乎是已做到了精诚所至，那么还能更好吗？

偏远的华盛顿西部有一家暖和舒适，小木屋式的录音室，《UFOF》就是在这里制作完成的。你几乎能在他们的歌里听见雨天和布满星星的夜晚。但你感受到Big Thief的超脱大多数是在塑造来来往往的角色的时候，这些角色不知道他们是否会回来，勇敢地面对死亡，展示着他们的脆弱，脆弱也成为他们最大的力量。尽管他们穿越过被生活最大的谜团诅咒的黑暗，他们却显露出从未有过的平静。