【译】叉婊Pitchfork评小猪佩奇 2021年专辑 《Peppa’s Adventures: The Album》

翻译：Nomanlandever

The four-year-old pop phenom and famous pig’s second album is a charming and self-assured celebration of family, friendship, and muddy puddles.

年仅四岁便红遍全球的佩奇女王的第二张专辑是魅力四射的，一场对家庭，友情，泥坑引以自豪的庆祝会。

Peppa’s Adventures: The Album, the second LP by UK singer-songwriter and television star Peppa Pig, arrives at a critical moment for the young artist. Only 4 years old, and one of very few pigs working in the music industry today, Peppa’s rise has been as rapid as it was unlikely. Her 2019 debut, My First Album, was an unexpected smash upon release. The record racked up 136 million streams, reached No. 1 on the UK Independent Albums Breakers chart, and won accolades from fellow pop renegades Charli XCX and Lil Nas X. As Peppa readied her sophomore effort, critics wondered: Was My First Album a fluke? Or is Peppa equipped to play in the UK’s crowded pop big leagues, alongside more established stars like Dua Lipa and Ed Sheeran?

《Peppa’s Adventures: The Album》，英国歌手、词曲创作者、电视明星小猪佩奇的第二张专辑。对于这位年轻的艺术家来说，这是一个关键时刻。佩奇年仅4岁，是当今音乐界为数不多的几只“猪”之一，她的迅速崛起令人难以置信。她2019年处女作《My First Album》出乎意料地获得商业成功，目前已积攒1.36亿流媒体点击，在英国独立专辑破坏者排行榜(UK Independent Albums Breakers)上卫冕冠军，赢得乐坛同辈艺人Charli XCX和Lil Nas X的赞许。正当佩奇准备她的第二张专辑时，评论家们想知道：《My First Album》是侥幸吗？或者佩奇是否能力在英国竞争激烈的“流行联盟”中突出重围，与Dua Lipa和Ed Sheeran等更知名的明星一决高下?

On My First Album, Peppa made a careful study of Brian Wilson’s sunny melodies and progressive pop structure. She hews closely to this formula throughout Peppa’s Adventures, particularly on the wistful “Perfect Day” and on “Recycling,” which evokes Fiona Apple in its percussive use of glass bottles and tin cans. Reaching further into pop’s past, she interpolates British and American folk music on the cheery “The School Bus Song” and the contemplative “Winter Days.” The traditionalist Approach to production pairs well with Peppa’s efficient songwriting. She’s adept at mining the mundane stuff of suburban life for glittering moments of camaraderie. “Perfect Day” celebrates the simple pleasures of friendship, particularly poignant after more than a year of social distancing. “Digging With Mr. Bull” turns the inconvenience of road construction into an exhilarating block party. Loveliest of all is “North Star Lullaby”; Peppa wrote the elegant, understated song for her 2-year-old brother, George. “I’d fly to space if I had wings,” she sings, her voice a near-whisper, “and play with George on Saturn’s rings.” The lullaby’s verses, written in iambic tetrameter, demonstrate a gift for poetic construction well beyond her years.

在《My First Album》中，佩奇潜心钻研了Brian Wilson的阳光旋律和前卫的流行结构。在《Peppa’s Adventures: The Album》中她严格遵循了这一准则，尤其在令人向往的歌曲《Perfect Day》和《Recycling》上得以体现，这两首歌对玻璃瓶和锡罐的敲击使用让人想到Fiona Apple。佩奇进一步深入过往的流行音乐，在欢快的《The School Bus Song》和沉思的《Winter Days》中加入英国民谣和美国民谣元素。传统守旧式的制作与佩奇高效的写歌相得益彰。她擅长挖掘郊区生活的平凡事物，从中寻找闪耀的友情时刻。歌曲《Perfect Day》庆祝友谊的简单快乐，尤其是在一年多的社交距离后的辛酸。《Digging With Mr. Bull》将公路建设带来的生活不便转变为一场令人兴奋的街区派对。最可爱的是《North Star Lullaby》，佩奇为她两岁的弟弟乔治写出了这首优雅而低调的歌。“I’d fly to space if I had wings,”她近乎耳语地唱道， “and play with George on Saturn’s rings.”这首摇篮曲是以抑扬格四步格的方式写成的，显示出她在诗歌构建方面的天赋，远远超出了她的年龄。

Yet Peppa’s Adventures is most compelling when Peppa departs from her standard chamber-pop formula. Lead single “Bing Bong Champion” is an ambitiously maximalist shot across the bow at those who called My First Album a Sarah Records retread. A tribute to sport in a fraught Olympic year, it moves with the grand air of Taylor Swift’s “State of Grace.” Chimes and brassy horns abound, but Peppa, a nimble vocalist, ably holds her own. On the bridge, she assumes the role of coach and leads her backing singers in rhythmic cheering. It is among her best work to date. 

然而，《Peppa’s Adventures: The Album》最亮眼之处在于佩奇脱离了室内流行乐标准模板的限制，首单《Bing Bong Champion》是野心的极端尝试，对那些称《My First Album》是Sarah Records（独立音乐厂牌 英国花草系）新瓶装旧酒的人进行回击。这首歌是在充满危机的奥运年向体育运动致敬，有着Taylor Swift《State Of Grace》的大气。编钟和黄铜喇叭比比皆是，但佩奇，一个灵活的歌手，巧妙地把持着自己的风格。在歌曲Bridge处，她扮演教练的角色，带领她的和声歌手有节奏地欢呼着。这是她迄今为止最好的作品之一。

Similarly expansive is the opener and title track, “Peppa’s Adventures,” a celebration of the natural world. Like her contemporary Lorde’s “Solar Power,” the song throws off the past year’s miseries and flies through life with every pore open. “Adventures” relies heavily on a fiddle riff that recalls, or perhaps revives, the heyday of Mumford & Sons, the Lumineers, and Edward Sharpe. It’s a little gauche and though it doesn’t quite sink the song, it does raise questions about Peppa’s taste.

同样大气恢宏的专辑开场曲和同名曲《Peppa’s Adventures》，一场歌颂自然世界的庆祝会。如同佩奇同时代的歌手Lorde《Solar Power》般，这首歌摒除了过去一年的苦痛，使整个人焕然一新。这首歌在很大程度上依赖于一段小提琴重复段，或让人回想到芒福德父子(Mumford & Sons)、Lumineers和爱德华·夏普(Edward Sharpe)的全盛时期。这有点笨拙，虽然这并没有让这首歌显得很沉闷，但这着实让人容易质疑佩奇的音乐品味。

This minor concern aside, Peppa has proven herself a graceful navigator of a pop scene often hostile to her species. When My First Album debuted, in 2019, on the same day as Iggy Azalea’s In My Defense, Azalea cruelly threatened to turn Peppa into “a breakfast special.” In light of such attacks, Peppa’s unapologetic embrace of her identity is all the more inspirational. She oinks without shame; she celebrates “jumping in muddy puddles” on no fewer than four of this record’s nine tracks. “Birdy Birdy Woof Woof” demolishes preconceived notions about animal vocalists—“The birds go woof, and the dogs go tweet!”—as Peppa enlists friends and frequent collaborators Suzy Sheep, Pedro Pony, and Candy Cat to sing in one another’s styles. 

先抛开这个小问题，佩奇女王早已证明在这鱼龙混杂，步步为营的流行乐坛中，自己优秀领航员的地位。佩奇2019年出道作《My First Album》与Iggy Azalea 专辑《In My Defense》同日发行当天，Iggy便凶狠地扬言道要把佩奇做成早餐。此威胁场景下，佩奇毫不掩饰地承认自己的身份，这更鼓舞人心。她不掩天性，毫无羞耻地肆意猪叫；在专辑的九首歌中，至少有四首都在庆祝“跳进泥泞的水坑”的快乐。“Birdy Birdy Woof Woof”打破了大众对动物歌手的固有印象——“The birds go woof, and the dogs go tweet!”——佩奇召集朋友和长期的合作伙伴，如绵羊苏西、小马佩德罗和糖果猫，各露头角的歌唱。

The other political moments of Peppa’s Adventures are not as successful. “Recycling,” for all its delightful percussive flourishes, fails to consider the impact of the UK’s recycling programs on Southeast Asia, where landfills overflow with Western waste. A brief reference to private spaceflight in “The School Bus Song” is similarly ill-advised, given that billionaire astronauts continue to exploit the working-class and classroom-working listeners whom Peppa courts.

《Peppa’s Adventures: The Album》的政治时刻却没达到同等的优秀程度，歌曲“Recycling”》虽然声势浩大，但却没有考虑到英国的回收利用项目对东南亚的影响，那里的垃圾填埋场充斥着西方国家的垃圾。 “The School Bus Song” 中对私人太空旅行的简略提及略显失策，因为想到“亿万富翁宇航员们”正不断剥削佩奇想讨好的工薪阶层和在教室的听众。

Peppa is, of course, a very young artist; one hopes that she will refine her political sensibility as she matures. Her influence, within and beyond the pop scene, is immense. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Peppa’s most devoted American fans have developed British accents and adopted her slang. Peppa seems to have borne up remarkably well in this position of influence, with all its attendant pressures. She clearly benefits from the closeness of her family and friends, who Appear throughout Peppa’s Adventures. As her profile rises, and her music reaches an even wider audience, Peppa will need their support to stay grounded. If her abundantly successful new record signals one thing, it is this: Peppa is some pig.

佩奇，无疑是位非常年轻的艺术家；人们期望，随着她日益成熟，她会提高自己的政治敏感性。她在流行乐坛内外的影响都是举世无双的。《华尔街日报》最近报道称，小猪佩奇最忠实的美国粉丝已经学会了英式口音，并接受了她的说话方式。佩奇似乎在影响力的交椅上承受住了千斤重担的压力。显然，她从家人和朋友的亲密关系中受益，他们都出现在《 Peppa’s Adventures》中。随着她的知名度不断提高，越来越多的听众接触到她的音乐，佩奇脚踏实地的行进，需要他们的支持。如果说她的新专辑大获成功标志着什么事情，那就是：佩奇是头不同寻常的猪。