【搬运】【译】Rolling Stone评Sabrina Claudio 2018年专辑《No Rain, No Flowers

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：Ryan-Chopin

校正：WhitneyL

排版：Lynn Liu

这位歌手愉快地回忆起经典R&B的时代，即使她的声音有点过于不温不火。

To understand Sabrina Claudio and her new No Rain, No Flowers release, it’s important to understand the streaming-induced earthquake that has taken place in R&B over the last three years.

想要了解Sabrina Claudio和她的新发行专辑《No Rain, No Flowers》，就要先着手去了解过去三年中R&B音乐所经历的流媒体带来的轰动。

During the initial phase of the still-ongoing trap era, R&B was effectively on the ropes as a commercial proposition. But as streaming services revved up, codified their playlists and attracted millions of young listeners, R&B singers were thrown a lifeline. On mainstream radio, they had to duke it out with rappers who were frequently more blunt and more trendy. But in the tranquil world of popular playlists like “All the Feels” and “Love, Sex & Water” — tagline: “a spa for your soul” — the serene singer reigns supreme.

在这个trap盛行的时代之初始阶段，R&B的商业性实际上已岌岌可危。但随着流媒体服务的加速发展、播放列表的系统化，并吸引了数以百万计的年轻听众，R&B歌手们得以悬崖勒马。在主流电台上，他们不得不与那些更直率、更时髦的饶舌歌手一决雌雄。但像“All the Feels”和“Love, Sex & Water”这样的流行歌曲所在的列表中，曲调平和的歌手占据了主导地位。

So a whole school of R&B acts, from H.E.R. to Daniel Caesar to Sonder, arose to fill this niche. In this new lane, a singer like Claudio can amass nearly 400 million streams across two tidy releases without anything resembling what they used to call a hit. She sings like dripping glass, flowing from note to note. Emotional histrionics were once R&B’s calling card, but Claudio prefers coolheaded de-escalation — why wail when you can sigh?

因此，从H.E.R.到Daniel Caesar再到Sonder，整个R&B流派兴起，填补了这一空缺。在这条新的道路上，Claudio这样的歌手可以在两张唱片中获得近4亿的流媒体播放，但用以前标准来衡量的话也称不上大热单曲了。她的演绎像玻璃杯滴着水，从一个音符接着另一个音符滴落出声。情感表演曾经是R&B歌手惯用的招数，但Claudio更喜欢慢慢地沉寂她的歌声，仿佛在说：当你可以叹息时，为什么要哭泣呢?

No Rain, No Flowers opens with a few of those sighs laid over plangent keyboards and pretty, understated bass; it’s an invitation to sink in, to join the singer in her languor. That’s where things stay for the next 28 minutes. This album is consistently suave, admirably steady.

《No Rain, No Flowers》伴随着几声叹息，伴随着键盘的轰隆声和优美、朴素的低音拉开帷幕，邀请你沉浸其中，加入歌手的慵懒之中，享受接下来28分钟的静素。这张专辑至始至终都有那种温文尔雅且难得的平稳之感。

But it’s also a little tepid. No Rain, No Flowers is obsessed with melody — Claudio is a master of ruffling and extending notes, dawdling in many shades of breathy, high-register singing — but frequently indifferent to rhythm. There are dashes of almost pushy cocktail funk and hissing hip-hop soul, and even a touch of vindictiveness on “Creation:” “His fingers never used to move that way,” Claudio sings, “so you’re welcome for the pleasure.” Still, the primary sensation imparted by No Rain, No Flowers is one of gentle drift.

It’s a soothing balm for whatever ails you, and the album certainly contains plenty of ammunition for a playlist like “Chilled Hits.” But when Claudio wonders, “did we lose our minds?” it’s unnerving: The unerring evenness of the music means you can’t tell. That is part of this sound’s appeal — and part of its drawback.

但她的声音终归有点不温不火。《No Rain, No Flowers》的制作注重旋律：“Creation”中充斥着咄咄逼人的放克乐和嘶嘶作响的嘻哈式灵魂乐，甚至还有一点恶毒心理：“他的手指从来没有那样移动过，”Claudio唱道，“所以你可以尽情享受。”然而，《No Rain, No Flowers》带来的情感是循序渐进的，且让人感到温馨舒适。

无论你有什么不快，这张专辑都是一剂舒缓的香草膏，它包含了很多适合“舒缓的歌曲”这种音乐列表的歌曲。但当Claudio在歌中传递着“我们是不是疯了?”这又让人紧张不安：她的音乐中规中矩，恰到好处，让你也说不出感觉怎样。这就是这种声音的魅力所在，也是它的瑕疵之一。