译Pitchfork评 Ravyn Lenae 2022年专辑《HYPNOS》（Best New Music）
翻译：NickyLovesBaileys(网易云）
The 23-year-old Chicago singer’s long-awaited debut makes a close study of R&B history, floating through weightless vocal arrangements with uncommon poise
这位23岁来自芝加哥的歌手令人期待已久的处女作仿佛是一本R&B历史的教科书，以不寻常的姿态漂浮在充满失重感的声乐编曲中。
When Ravyn Lenae emerged on Chicago’s R&B scene in 2015, she was a sensory architect. Her vocals were eclectic: a unique neo-soul style that channeled Erykah Badu’s nasal coolness and a falsetto that carried whispers of FKA twigs. Between 2015 and 2017, Lenae released two EPs, exploring a mode of alternative R&B that incorporated elements of dream pop, bounce, and soul. Between opening tours for Noname and SZA, Lenae seemingly found her groove on 2018’s Steve Lacy-produced EP Crush, a collection of daring electro-funk bedroom bangers. She seemed unstoppable, releasing so much in a short time period that it was exhilarating to see what she had lined up next. Aside from a few teases, however, Lenae went radio silent for the Better part of four years.
2015年，当Ravyn初次出现在芝加哥的R&B圈视野中时，她是一位“感官建造师”，她的声音让人惊喜：她充满独特新灵魂风格的鼻音让人想到Erykah Badu，耳语般的假声让人想到FKA Twigs。2015-2017年间，Lenae发行了两张EP，探索了一种融合Dream-pop 、bounce 和灵魂元素的另类R&B模式。在为Noname 和Sza巡演开场的同时，她在18年Steve Lacy制作的EP“Crush”中找到了自己的最佳状态，这是一张充满大胆的电子放克卧室曲目的专辑。她似乎势不可挡，在很短的时间内释放出如此多的东西，以至于让人对她即将释出的作品充满期待。除了偶尔发一些预告，她在接下来的四年里没有任何新动作。
Her debut full-length, HYPNOS, arrives as a mature reintroduction, a love-stained, moody transport that flies through Lenae’s world with a featherlight cadence. Lenae surveys the recent history of soul, alternative R&B, and even Afrobeats with precision. But most importantly, her debut showcases her ascendant vocal prowess as she moves across her wide range with ease. Lenae’s transcendental poise establishes her as a resonant voice in R&B.
她的个人首张专辑《HYPNOS》让大家重新认识了她，充满爱意、情绪化的作品以轻快的节奏带你飞过Lenae的世界。Lenae 精准地研习了灵魂乐、另类 R&B 甚至 Afrobeats 的近期历史。最重要的是，她的处女作展示了她高超的声乐实力，因为她可以轻松地在宽阔的音域中游走。Lenae 超凡脱俗的泰然自若使她成为 R&B界 中的响亮新声。
The immediate appeal of HYPNOS is just how tantalizing Lenae’s arrangements are amid familiar soundscapes. On previous songs like “Sticky” or “Free Room,” Lenae tapped into her higher register, but here Lenae’s soprano has become a gravitational force. On the Kaytranada-produced “Xtasy,” Lenae’s sultry and blithe singing washes over the beat like water beading off a car. “Lullabye,” a kiss-off to a former lover, moves through melismatic harmonies like clockwork. “I hope she keeps you warm at night/This is our lullabye,” she croons, but you know she’s going to be OK just by her composure.
HYPNOS 的直接吸引力在于 Lenae 的声音编排在为大众所熟悉的曲风中是多么诱人。在先前的歌曲如“Sticky”或“Free Room”中，Lenae 进入了她的高音区，她的高音变成了一股无法抗拒的引力。在 Kaytranada 制作的“Xtasy”中，Lenae 闷热而轻快的歌声像挡风玻璃上震动的水滴一样令人着迷。“Lullabye”是对旧情人的吻别，她的人声在如发条一样的旋律与和声中徜徉。“I hope she keeps you warm at night/this is our lullabye”她轻吟道，但你可以从她坚定的声音中得知，she's gotta be ok。
For someone already lauded for her singing, Lenae’s vocal technique on HYPNOS is the work of a perfectionist. Her sound has blossomed into a potpourri of the R&B female icons of the last three decades, but especially of the ’90s and early ’00s. The most obvious comparison here is Aaliyah, but Lenae’s vocal composition honors many on HYPNOS, pulling from Brandy’s “vocal bible” riffs and Solange’s visionary harmonies, Kelela’s outré artistry, and Destiny’s Child’s lullabying melodies. “Venom,” a seething funkadelic synth-led track, feels caught Between something off OutKast’s Stankonia and Brandy’s “What About Us?”. “Why do you play me for a fool?” Lenae asks, before descending into harmonies that unravel like those on Solange’s “Rise.” On “Cameo,” Lenae brings back Lacy and frequent collaborator Luke Titus for a funky opener that recalls the synth bass sound of Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon.” The influences are never distracting so much as they are twinkling, fun, and carefully blended.
对于已经开始为她的歌声称赞的听众来说，Lenae 在 HYPNOS 中呈现的声乐技巧是完美主义者的杰作。她的声音已经发展成为过去 30 年间，尤其是 90 年代和 00 年代早期 R&B 女歌手融合在一起的新化身。这里最明显的比较是 Aaliyah，但 Lenae 的vocal在 HYPNOS 中致敬了许多前辈，你可以听到如 Brandy 的“声乐圣经”般的riff 和 Solange 富有远见的和声、Kelela 的超凡艺术性和 Destiny's Child 的舒适和音。“Venom”是一首由合成器主导的热辣 funkadelic 曲目，你能听到一些 OutKast - Stankonia中 和 Brandy -“What About Us？”中的影子。“你为什么把我当傻子？” Lenae 唱道，然后进入和声，让人不禁想到 Solange 的“Rise”。在“Cameo”中，Lenae 与 Lacy 和长期合作者 Luke Titus 一起做了一首funky的开场白，让人想起 Herbie Hancock 的“Chameleon”的合成贝司声。这些来自其他艺术家影响永远不会让人分心，因为它们充满着精彩、趣味性的精心混合。
Sounding like someone else is by no means the limit to Lenae’s creative yield; she is as self-assured as she is exploratory. Rather than replicating a nostalgia that’s become commonplace, she has earnestly studied these forebears and applied their techniques to her own brand of soft and intense music. “Light Me Up,” the album’s sexy, slow-burning centerpiece, creates a moodboard of R&B references, and digs deep into the excitement of sexual exploration: “Come inside/Show me you’re the leader/Switchin’ sides/Make me a believer,” she begs. Lenae’s weightless falsetto and stimulated writing make it a female contemporary to D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel).”
“听起来像其他人”绝不是对 Lenae 创造力的限制。她既自信又善于探索。她没有无脑复制近年来大家都在做的怀旧感，而是认真研究了这些前辈，并将他们的技巧提取到她自己柔和而强烈的作品中。“Light Me Up”，专辑中性感、缓慢燃烧的核心曲目，创造了一个 R&B 采样的情绪板，她深入挖掘了 性探索给人带来的兴奋感：““Come inside/Show me you’re the leader/Switchin’ sides/Make me a believer,” ”她恳求着。Lenae 轻盈的假声和血脉贲张的写作使这首作品成为 D'Angelo - “Untitled (How Does It Feel) .”的女性视角版。
The way Lenae seems to examine and deliberate her decisions in real time makes her a magnetic narrator. On “M.I.A.,” she takes stock of her life and goes full escapist mode in ways that commit to her shapeshifting tendencies. Taking notes from the Afrobeats artist Amaarae, the song is slick and coolheaded, cheekily rhyming about the freedom to sneak away at a moment’s notice. On “3D,” Lenae reunites with Zero Fatigue’s Monte Booker and Smino for a wobbly groove that puts Lenae in the driver’s seat of a relationship moving too fast. “I’m asking you to keep it light/Things are Better movin’ slow,” she cautions, raising her pitch with each word of warning. In her earlier work with Booker and Smino, Lenae sounded like a gorgeous vocalist, but as HYPNOS emphasizes, she can be all of those things and the star of her own story.
Lenae 在实时审度影响她决定的方式使她成为一个充满吸引力的故事叙述者。在“M.I.A.”中，她从生活中汲取灵感，并以完全符合她变化方向的方式进入了逃避现实的模式。Afrobeats 歌手Amaarae 说，这首歌流畅而冷静，充满押韵又随时可以偷偷溜走的小自由。在“3D”中，Lenae 与 Zero Fatigue 乐队的 Monte Booker 和 Smino 重聚首，这首歌有着让心情不自禁的开始晃动身体的节奏，让 Lenae 在一段发展得太快的关系中处于主导地位。“I’m asking you to keep it light/Things are Better movin’ slow，”她警惕道，每声警告她都在提高她的音调。在与 Booker 和 Smino 的早期合作中，Lenae 听起来像是一位华丽的歌手，但正如 HYPNOS中 所强调的，她可以成为所有的一切和她自己故事的主人公。
While the majority of HYPNOS’ themes are commonplace to early twentysomething experience—heartbreak, growing apart, trifling men, finding your footing—Lenae makes them feel easily digestible and less existential. On “Skin Tight,” she ponders the kinetic energy of a past relationship with grace and respect beyond her years. The scornful acoustic number “Mercury,” with “Deep End” singer Fousheé, initially comes off as a minor song on the album. But Lenae’s airy, level-minded approach is captivating—making this a bold and bittersweet highlight. Even as she whispers “I fucking hate you/Don’t ever speak my name” it never sounds all that painful, more like pity in the face of disgust.
虽然 HYPNOS 中的大多数主题对于 20 多岁的年轻人来说都是司空见惯的经历——心碎，渐行渐远，无足轻重的男人，独立自主——Lenae让听众觉得这一切都是容易消化的，并不是长久留存的。在“Skin Tight”中，她以超越她年龄的优雅和庄重的去思考过去关系之间的能量。与“Deep End”的歌手 Fousheé 合作的充满轻蔑味道的弦乐曲“Mercury”，最初只是专辑中的一首普通曲目。但Lenae 通透、头脑清醒的制作令人着迷——使这首歌成为一首大胆而苦乐参半的亮点。即便她低声唱道：“我他妈的讨厌你/永远不要叫我的名字”，听起来也没有那么痛苦，更像是面对厌恶时的一丝怜悯之情。
Even when heartache leaves her distraught, Lenae is laser-focused on reaching for spiritual affirmation and aggrandizement. The album ends on the feather touch of heartfelt closer “Wish,” which brings together Lenae’s dizzying expression and limitless execution as a vocalist. “Every night you close your eyes, make a little wish,” Lenae sings, tip-toeing down the words. It could lift you out of the deepest hole. Even as she touches on trends and familiar themes, it’s Lenae’s delivery, confidence, and alluring presence that makes HYPNOS stand apart. As she considers her anxieties, hopes, and doubts, she reveres the musical icons before her in ways that show just how ready she is for her own turn.
即使心痛让她心烦意乱，Lenae 仍专注于追求一种精神上的肯定和强化。这张专辑以发自肺腑的“Wish”羽毛般的听感结束，它将Lenae令人眼花缭乱的表达和作为歌手的无限执行力结合在一起。“每天晚上，你闭上眼睛，许个小愿望，”Lenae 唱道，小心翼翼的哼出歌词。这首歌可以把你从深渊里拉出来。即使当她谈到了流行趋势和熟悉的主题时，也正是Lenae的从容表达、自信和迷人的存在让 HYPNOS这张专辑 脱颖而出。当她将一切的不安、希望和疑惑放入作品中，敬重的汲取了早期音乐前辈的经验，她已经为自己的出发做好了准备。
