【搬运】【译】Rolling Stone评Charlie Puth 2018年专辑《Voicenotes》

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：Whitney.L

校正：Alice Song

感受断眉带来的R&B暖暖怀旧风

流行情歌王Charlie Puth携手Boyz II Men和James Taylor，勇敢尝试古典蓝调

An R&B direction is a tried-and-true way for young, mostly white pop stars to give their more clean-cut personas more edge. Charlie Puth is the latest to try this route, and while his efforts on Voicenotes are valiant, he still has a bit more work to prove he can cut his teeth with the Justin Timberlakes and the Nick Jonases of that over-saturated world.

对于主要年轻的白人流行明星来说， R&B方向R&B是一种久经考验的方式，可以让他们的形象更加鲜明。Charlie Puth是最新尝试这条路线的人，虽然他在《Voicenotes》上的努力是勇敢的，但他还有更多的工作要做，以证明他能在这个过度饱和的世界能与Justin Timberlakes和Nick Jonas类的明星并驾齐驱。

Recorded entirely on his “little Pro Tools rig with a MIDI keyboard and a microphone,” the album’s homemade feel gives it intimacy and warmth. This proves effective for the Eighties and Nineties R&B influence that pervades each note. The seductive Kehlani duet “Done For Me” connects to those influences with the most efficiency as the pair croon to one another over a nightcrawling, shades-at-night Eighties synth riff. Elsewhere, the slinky basslines on “Attention,” “Empty Cups” and “How Long” make for perfect slices of radio-soul-pop.

这张专辑完全是用他“带有MIDI键盘和麦克风的小Pro Tools设备”录制的，它自制的感觉给人以亲近感和温暖感。这被证明对八十年代和九十年代的节奏R&B的效果是有效的，它渗透了每个音符。迷人的Kehlani二重唱《Done For Me》以最高效的方式与这些影响联系在一起，这对搭档在一个夜行的、在夜晚带着阴影的80年代合成人即兴重复中彼此低声吟唱。在其他地方，《注意》(Attention)、《空杯子》(Empty Cups)和《多久》(How Long)中优美的低音线构成了完美的电台灵魂流行乐片段。

The album’s ballads slog down the momentum, each a little more forgettable than the last. Boyz II Men help add a bit of proper R&B nostalgia despite Puth getting lost in the group’s angelic harmonies. Later, James Taylor’s voice is a welcome bit of silkiness, even if the lyrics to the well-intentioned “Change” verge on cloying as the pair repeatedly beg “Why can’t we just get along?” Following the sleazy fun of “Empty Cups” comes album closer “Through It All,” finishing the things with a try-hard whimper.

然而这张唱片里的抒情曲却不那么尽如人意，每首歌都不如最后一首令人记忆深刻。Boyz II Men在这些曲目中被适当添加了一些R&B怀旧元素，然而断眉的声音似乎有些被天使般的和声掩盖了。而后，James Taylor的声音渐趋柔和，在单曲“Change” 中，两位演唱者如恳求般，一遍遍唱着“Why can't we just get along?（为什么我们不能好好相处)”，然而越听越让人觉得油腻。从“Empty Cups”到最后一首歌“Through It All”，低级趣味不断延续，最后以声嘶力竭的呜咽声结束了这张唱片。

From the moment he landed at the top of the pop charts with the Wiz Khalifa collaboration “See You Again,” Puth positioned himself as a keen pop songwriter to be reckoned with. Where his debut album that followed, Nine Track Mind, stumbled in its efforts to give him an identity in a sea of bright-eyed male pop stars, Voicenotes feels like a step, at the very least, in the right direction.

从他与Wiz Khalifa合作的单曲“See You Again”登上流行音乐排行榜榜首的那一刻起，断眉就把自己定位为一个活跃的流行音乐作曲人，理应受到瞩目。随着他首张专辑《Nine Track Mind》的问世，他开始努力地在帅哥云集，群星闪耀的流行乐坛中争取一席之地；而《Voicenotes》的发行，至少是他朝着正确方向迈出的一步。