【搬运译】叉婊Pitchfork评Snail Mail 2021年单曲“Ben Franklin”

搬运自：网易云音乐专栏【Music Online Zine Courier】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整）

翻译：豆目豆科

Lindsey Jordan is no stranger to heartbreak, and on “Ben Franklin,” the second single from her upcoming album Valentine, she makes it clear that the wounds she licked on previous records remain wide open. Until now, the Snail Mail oeuvre has reflected raw, adolescent yearning, rife with bellowing, cathartic choruses and acoustic indie-pop instrumentation. On “Ben Franklin,” though, Jordan murmurs and sneers over a synth-driven arrangement built around one of her heaviest basslines to date. But even while seething at an ex-lover with jaded lines like, “Got money, don’t care about sex,” she can’t quite submit to the numbness she tries to channel. The further Jordan tries to lean into her uglier professions of hatred, the more her characteristic honesty seeps through the cracks. “Sometimes I hate her just for not being you,” she spits, before admitting: “Post-rehab, I’ve been feeling so small/I miss your attention, I wish I could call.”

Lindsey Jordan对这种心碎的体验并不陌生，在她即将发行的专辑《Valentine》的第二支单曲“Ben Franklin”中，她坦诚道，她在先前专辑中所试图舔舐的淋漓伤口仍未愈合。迄今为止，Snail Mail的所有作品都充斥在咆哮、宣泄而出的副歌和独具硬地色彩的原生器乐声之中，真实地反映着青少年们心中最原始的那份渴望。不过在“Ben Franklin”这首歌中，Jordan围绕着由她迄今为止最为厚重的低音所作的合成曲进行一番低语和嘲讽。然而，即便她对曾经的暧昧对象说了“Got money, don’t care about sex.”这样的陈词滥调感到愤怒，也无法完全接受她试图传递的麻木与颓废。Jordan越试图向她丑恶的厌恶独白靠拢、隐藏在她心中那特有的诚实就越能从缝隙中逸散出来。她不屑地吐痰，承认道：“Sometimes I hate her just for not being you/Post-rehab, I’ve been feeling so small/I miss your attention, I wish I could call.”

Jordan’s despair is certainly not new, but the stark absence of romanticism in “Ben Franklin” is. Not once does she scream like she does throughout her debut, Lush, or even on her brasher recent single, “Valentine.” Sung in her lower register, her admissions of vulnerability read far more fatalistic. Still, there’s a perverse bounciness to the song as Jordan flirts with the occasional high note, adding to her fantasy of flippant, anesthetized spite. In the song’s most incisive moment, Jordan sings of a toxic relationship, “Had to make myself believe/I deserve it, I’m crazy,” before trailing off, lost in her own head. Finally, she defends herself with a stinging condemnation: “But don’t act like you’ve never met me.” Her voice is as calm and airy as it’s ever been, yet somehow more vicious than her scream.

Jordan所经历的绝望当然不是什么新鲜事，而“Ben Franklin”中浪漫主义地明显缺失才真正给了听众们新的体验。她不再像在她的处女作《Lush》中那样尖叫，哪怕一次，甚至在她最近的单曲“Valentine”中也是如此。她用更低的音域来演唱，她脆弱而坦诚的独白愈显宿命感。同时Jordan偶尔也会用高音来调弄，使这首歌还有着一种反常的张力，增加了她对轻率、麻木的怨恨的幻想。在这首歌最精辟的时刻，乔丹演绎着一段病态的恋情，“Had to make myself believe/I deserve it, I’m crazy”，然后拖长音调，迷失在自己脑海的幻象之中。最后，她用尖刻刺耳的谴责为自己辩护：“But don’t act like you’ve never met me.”她的声音和以往一样平静轻盈，但不知为何却比她的尖叫声更具恶意。