【译】叉婊Pitchfork评Ariana Grande 2014年单曲《Break Free》（ft. Zedd）
翻译：Nomanlandever
Ariana Grande's first full-length, last year's Yours Truly, paired the teen TV star-turned-pop singer's impressive vocal skills with airy yet sumptuous R&B-leaning pop that, at its best, evoked Mariah Carey in a way that transcended Grande's own mini-Mariah aspirations. From the looks of it, her forthcoming My Everything stands to expand her sound palette a bit: first single "Problem" overcame guest appearances by no-talent stars Iggy Azalea and Big Sean, coming off as the best saxophone-featuring pop song since Jennifer Lopez's "Get Right", and now there's the delightfully colorful, life-affirming "Break Free", perhaps Grande's boldest song yet.
Ariana Grande去年推出的首张正式专辑《Yours Truly》中，这位从青少年电视明星转型的流行歌星将令人眼前一亮的演唱与轻快而华丽的R＆B向的流行音乐结合起来，专辑最棒的部分便是让人直接联想到Mariah Carey，而不是Ariana“小Mariah”式的自嗨。依照常理看，即将发行的专辑《My Everything》将更多样地展现她的歌唱可塑性。首单《Problem》中Ariana的表现吊打“无才华”的客串歌手Iggy Azalea和Big Sean，成为继Jennifer Lopez的《Get Right》之后最好的萨克斯风格流行歌曲，现在有了愉悦多彩、积极进取的《Break Free》，这可能是Ariana Grande迄今为止最大胆的歌曲。
From the zippy opening synth line to the verse's insistent pounding, "Break Free" certainly invites comparisons to Swedish pop mastermind Robyn; as ever, Grande brings her own skyscraping voice in top form, so vocally the comparisons don't stick. Production-wise, however, this is top-notch synth-pop, and all credit goes to German producer Zedd, whose own megahits "Clarity" and "Stay the Night" have doubled as showcases for his capability to wield loopy, lollipop-sticky synths into dizzying pop-confection perfection. "This is the part when/ I say I don't want you/ I'm stronger than I've been before," Grande belts during the chorus, a breakup-survival cry that matches Kelly Clarkson's I'm-still-moving-on "Since You Been Gone", updating that song's guitar-driven rush for today's computer world.
从开头展现的活泼的合成器主线到重击声不断的主歌，《Break Free》很难不与瑞典流行乐掌舵人Robyn比较。如同往常，Ariana使她高亢的嗓音保持着最佳状态，因此歌唱上的较量先告一段落。然而，在制作方面，这是一流的合成流行音乐，这一切都要归功于德国制作人Zedd，他自己的超级热单《Clarity》和《Stay the Night》也展现了他的能力，能把棒棒糖般黏糊的合成器做成令人眼花缭乱的顶级流行作品。 "This is the part when/ I say I don't want you/ I'm stronger than I've been before,"Ariana在副歌高歌着，一段从分手后残存的哭泣，与Kelly Clarkson在《Since You Been Gone》中唱道的“I'm-still-moving-on”相吻合，使这首由吉他驱动急促感十足的歌更新为当今的电脑版。
