【译】叉婊Pitchfork评Lily Allen 2018年专辑《No Shame》（女人当自强）

翻译：Nomanlandever

Pilloried in the press for her every misfortune, Lily Allen scrutinizes her public persona on an album that dilutes staggering sincerity with uninspired beats.

她人生的每一不如意时刻都惨遭媒体嘲弄，Lily Allen在这张专辑中审视自己的公众形象，平淡无奇的节奏冲淡了她惊人的坦诚。

In the four years since Lily Allen released Sheezus, her ill-received attempt at pop-culture satire, the English star has been pilloried for her every misfortune. She’s been targeted for her drinking habits, endured a very public breakup, and—most despicably—gotten blamed for the stillbirth of what would have been her only son. Tracking every sensational headline associated with Allen would require a secondary hard drive, as her public profile has always been shaped by tabloid interpretations of her private life. On her new LP, No Shame, the singer scrutinizes that persona from the perspectives of internet trolls and family members, as well as through her own self-deprecating gaze.

在Lily Allen发行了她尝试对流行文化的讽刺却风评不佳的专辑《Sheezus》后的四年间，这位英国明星人生的每一不如意时刻都惨遭媒体嘲弄，因酗酒问题被抨击，忍受一段众目睽睽下的分手，然而——最下流的是——为本可能成为他独生子的男婴流产而受到指责。如果要追踪与Lily Allen有关的耸人听闻的头条新闻，电脑得多装一个硬盘，因为她的公众形象一直是由花边新闻对她私生活的解读塑造的。在她的新专辑《No Shame》中，这位歌手从键盘侠和家庭成员的角度，以及她自己自嘲的视角审视了自己的形象。

Thematically, Allen’s approach is more nuanced and genuine here than in the celeb-baiting bangers of Sheezus, but thin production bleeds much of the record dry, often draining the color from its impassioned material. The album’s least interesting songs sound like prefab pop, assembled and packaged for any available vocalist. The P2J-produced “Higher,” with its spare finger snaps and bonfire guitar, recalls a Justin Bieber single; Allen’s two-dimensional vocal drifts just above the mix like a paper plane losing altitude. “Your Choice” and “Lost My Mind” suffer from a similar overfamiliarity, both featuring the same rhythmic snapping and whispered lyrics. The issue isn’t that these songs are transparently bad but that they bear no trace of Allen’s personality. On each one, her point of view is buried by the unimaginative whims of her producers.

主题上，Lily比那些在《Sheezus》名人混战的那些人的探索得更为细致真实，但薄弱的制作让专辑大部分内容显得枯燥无味，往往让妙趣横生的素材黯然失色。这张专辑中最无趣的歌曲听起来就像预先组装好的流行歌曲，为所有歌手量身打造。由P2J制作的歌曲《Higher》，多余的响指声和篝火吉他声让人想起Justin Bieber的一首歌；Lily Allen缺乏深度的歌声在混音上漂浮，如同高度下降中的纸飞机。《Your Choice》和《Lost My Mind》也有类似的非常熟悉之处，们都有同样的响指节奏和低吟的歌词。问题不在于这些歌曲显而易见的差，而在于它们丝毫没有Lily Allen的个人风范。两首歌中，她的个人想表达的内容都被制作人毫无想象力的心血来潮的念头掩盖。

Fortunately, she resurfaces on “Waste” and “Trigger Bang,” two doses of perfect pop that could have appeared on Allen’s exceptional 2006 debut Alright, Still. The latter has some of the most varied production on No Shame (thanks to Sheezus collaborator Fryars). Its downtempo snares, moody synths, and frolicking piano make for a lovely bit of bubblegum that doesn’t lose its flavor as you chew; Allen is bolstered, not bogged down by the beat. She sounds courageous, reflecting on her gregarious party days, and making the decision to step away from them for the sake of sanity. Opener “Come On Then” is another highlight, addressing how Allen is perceived by the press and her lumpen haters. “Yeah, I’m a bad mother, I’m a bad wife/You saw it on the socials, you read it online,” she coos over a frantic drum machine. Her tone is subtly barbed but vulnerable, a duality she conveys well.

幸运的是，她在《Waste》和《Trigger Bang》中再展身手，这两首完美的流行歌曲都可以作为Lily Allen的2006年出色的处女作《Alright, Still》的后续单曲。后者在《No Shame》中拥有一些最丰富的制作(多亏《Sheezus》的合作伙伴Fryars)。它的慢节奏的陷阱，情绪化的合成器，和嬉戏的钢琴做出了一点泡泡糖的可爱感，却不会在咀嚼中失去韵味；Lily Allen在节奏中得到升华，而不是被拉跨。她听起来很勇敢，回想起她的社交聚会日子，并决定离开他们，以保持理智。开场曲《Come On Then》是专辑另一亮点，讲述了媒体和她的讨厌者是如何看待艾伦的，表达了Lily Allen是如何被媒体和下贱的黑子们是如何看待的。“Yeah, I’m a bad mother, I’m a bad wife/You saw it on the socials, you read it online,” 在疯狂的鼓声击动中轻声说道。她的语气带有微妙的讽刺意味，但又很脆弱，她很好地表达出这种双重性。

That vulnerability is the record's greatest asset, and Allen communicates it most effectively in the mid-album triptych “Family Man,” “apples,” and “Three”—ballads that find her wandering the rubble of her marriage and slumping under the weight of parenthood. “Family Man,” produced by Mark Ronson, showcases her most powerful vocal delivery, as she implores her partner to stay while reminding him of her irreparable flaws. Fashioned from even greater despair, “apples” is the bedridden acceptance of failure that follows the pleading. In her shrinking falsetto, Allen lists off milestones of a defunct relationship as if she’s flipping through her wedding album with a handle of vodka in hand.

这种脆弱是专辑中最大的财富，Lily Allen在专辑中段的三联曲《Family Man》、《apples》和《Three》中最有效地传达了这一点——这些抒情曲使她在婚姻的废墟中徘徊，在为人父母的重压下消沉。由Mark Ronson制作的《Family Man》展现了她最有力的声音，她恳求伴侣留下来，同时也提醒他她自身不可弥补的缺陷。《apples》是由更大的绝望塑造而成的，它是在恳求之后对失败的习以为常的接纳。在她不断削减的假声中，Lily Allen列出了一段关系结束的里程碑，就像她手里拿着伏特加翻看她的婚礼相册一样。

“Three” is No Shame’s most affecting song. Over sparse barroom piano, Allen laments being left by a loved one. Its opening measures could be sung from the point of view of a pining wife or a desperate husband, but the perspective shifts when she confesses, “This afternoon I made a papier-mâché fish, mum/I made it just for you/Please don’t go/Stay here with me/It’s not my fault, I’m only three.” It’s a staggering moment, one that communicates the yearning of a child, the guilt of a parent, and the societal pressure to be a perfect mother, all in a couple of concise lines.

《Three》是专辑《No Shame》里最动情的歌。在酒吧里稀稀落落的钢琴旁，艾伦悲叹着亲人的离去。这首歌的开头可以从一个憔悴的妻子或绝望的丈夫的视角来唱，但当她坦白道:“This afternoon I made a papier-mâché fish, mum/I made it just for you/Please don’t go/Stay here with me/It’s not my fault, I’m only three.” 这是一个惊人的时刻，它传达了一个孩子的渴望，一个父母的内疚，以及社会压力，以成为一个完美的母亲，这一切都糅合在几行精简的歌词中。

If Sheezus was Allen at her most ironic, Allen’s new album marks a return to sincerity—and its assessments of motherhood, failing relationships, and infamy are penetrating. Sadly, these potent themes are often diluted by antiseptic production. The press may love to pile on Lily, but it isn’t her persona that undermines No Shame. Blame it on the beat.

如果说《Sheezus》是Lily Allen最具讽刺意味的一面，那么Lily Allen的新专辑标志着一种真挚的回归——它对母性、失败的关系和声名狼藉的评价是透彻之极的。可悲的是，这些强有力的主题经常被过分单调的制作冲淡。媒体可能喜欢夸张化Lily Allen，但问题不是她的形象削弱了《No Shame》。要怪就怪节奏。