【搬运】【译】NME评Jorja Smith 2018年专辑《Lost ＆ Found》

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：WhitneyL

校正：Ryan-Chopin

沃尔萨尔式R&B的候选人Jorja Smith证明了为她的首专开足马力是正确的。

School coursework has little to no bearing to where most of us are right now. For Jorja Smith, however, it proved to be everything. Influenced by research she was doing in school about racial discrimination towards fellow students, she dropped a Dizzee Rascal-sampling number on Soundcloud in early 2016. It was picked up by Stormzy and Skrillex upon release (she attracts fans in high places, and in March 2017 linked up with Drake on a couple of choice cuts his ‘More Life’ “playlist”). Ever since, she’s been plotting a global takeover.

在校期间，学校中的课业与我们大多数人现在所处的情况几乎没有关系。然而，对Jorja Smith来说，这成就了一切。2016年初，由于在校期间，她对同学们关于种族歧视方面的问题进行了意见收集，这刺激了她，使她在云录制上释出了令人眼花缭乱的混音音乐。这首歌（“Blue Light”）刚发行时就被Stormzy和Skrillex收录了(她一下就吸引了很多粉丝，并且在2017年3月，她和Drake进行了合作，Drake的专辑《More Life》中就有几首他们合作的杰作)。从那以后，她一直在着手于将自己推向全球市场。

It culminates in this, ‘Lost & Found’, the Walsall native’s debut album, which comes off the back of a pretty magnificent year. She dropped huge garage-banger ‘On My Mind’ in September, bagged the BRITs Critics Choice Award in February and ended up co-writing a song with Kendrick Lamar on the acclaimed Black Panther soundtrack that same month. Few rising British acts have had a meteoric rise quite as rapid as Smith’s.

《Lost & Found》是这位沃尔索尔女孩的首张专辑，在这辉煌的一年中，这张专辑风光无限。今年9月(文章写于2018年)，她发行了”On My Mind”这首混有大量数码音乐元素的歌曲，在今年2月获得了全英音乐乐评人选择奖，并与Kendrick Lamar合作，创作了一首广受好评的电影”Black Panther(黑豹)”原声带歌曲。很少有发展中的英国艺人能够像Smith这样迅速崛起。

It’s disappointing, then, that ‘Lost & Found’ doesn’t match those dizzying heights. The album’s peak is still her breakout single, the languid ‘Blue Lights’, which proves that Smith is not just an elite performer, but a relatable songwriter who can pair issues like racial profiling (“You better not run ’cause the sirens not coming for you/What have you done?)  and getting ticked off at school (“Kept after class for answering back/You apologized, where’s the harm in that?”).

令人失望的是，《Lost & Found》并没有达到令人景仰的高度。这张专辑的巅峰仍然是她独领风骚的单曲“Blue Lights”,这证明了Smith不仅仅是富有天赋的表演者,而且是一位能够引起人们共鸣的作曲家,她能够揭露那些关于种族歧视的现实问题, (例如歌词“你最好不要跑因为警察并不是来救你的/你做了什么?”)又如在学校中挨了一顿揍 (例如歌词“放学别跑/你为什么要道歉,怎么了,打着哪了?”)。

Her last two singles, the throwback ‘On My Mind’ – a up-tempo pop hit that’s her most exhilarating work to date– and weighty Stormzy collaboration ‘Let Me Down’, have both been left off this album. Instead, it often relies too heavily on the jazz-tinged R&B formula she mastered with ‘Lost & Found’. This is a shame, because the record is far more entertaining when she deviates from the template. Take ‘Lifeboats (Freestyle)’, on which Smith ups the pace for an energetic, politically-charged freestyle that references the migrant crisis in Europe: “If there’s a reason we can stay afloat/Why do we watch them drown?” The personality she displays here far beats out the vague sloganeering on songs like ‘Goodbyes’: (“Goodbyes, good times/L O V E is all for you“).

关于她最近的两首单曲：”On My Mind”,一首快节奏的流行音乐,并且被认为是迄今为止最令人振奋的杰作;以及”Let Me Down”,这首歌是与重量级歌手Stromzy一同创作完成的,但都没有收录在这张专辑中。相反，这些歌过于依赖于她在《Lost & Found》这张专辑中爵士风格的R&B套路。这难免成为一种遗憾，因为当她偏离固定的套路时，唱片就会变得有趣得多。以”Lifeboats (Freestyle)”为例，Smith在这首歌中加快了节奏，以一种充满活力的节拍和具有政治意味的freestyle表达了对欧洲移民危机的看法: “如果有什么办法我们可以浮在水上/我们为什么要看着他们溺亡?”她在这里所展现的才能远远胜过“Goodbye”等歌曲中含糊的口号(例如歌词“再见,那些美好的时光/L O V E 都是为你所说”)。

It’s clear that Smith has done her homework, though, with shades of icons such as Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse scattered throughout the album. This is most notable on ‘February 3rd’, where her soothing voice is pushed to its limit over a glitchy, playful beat that’d sit nicely on James Blake’s debut album. ‘Where Did I Go?’, meanwhile, is a sleek combination of wicked melodies and bouncing beats. 

很明显，Smith已经完成了她的功课,不过,像Lauryn Hill和Amy Winehouse这样的偶像影子散落在整张专辑中。在这张专辑中,最值得注意的是“February 3rd”，在这首歌中,她悠长的声音被推到极限，这些闪光而有趣的节拍与James Blake的首张专辑也可完美的融合。另外还有，“Where Did I Go?”这首歌就是不羁旋律和跳动节奏的结合。

Smith’s made the grade on this serviceable first record ‘Lost & Found’, and the path to her becoming Britain’s next global export is looking pretty clear. If only it was made to feel less of a drag.

Smith在《Lost & Found》她这首张专辑上取得了不错的成绩，这为Smith成为下一个英国国际性出口品牌铺平了道路。当然,其实也只是减少了一点阻力而已。