【搬运】【译】NME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：Ocean-Ashley

校正：Ryan-Chopin

“Hate me or love me/that’s just the way I am” poster boy Charlie Puth croons on the opener to his second album ‘Voicenotes’. A clichéd sentiment, but one that rings true for the noveau-prince of pop. Cutting his teeth as a YouTube sensation and a protégé of Ellen DeGeneres (back in 2011 she signed him to her label after seeing him cover Adele), in 2015 Puth shot to the A List with his feature on the Fast and Furious soundtracking ‘See You Again’. What followed was his doo-wop flop of a debut album, ‘Nine Track Mind’, which seemed hurriedly rushed out to capitalise on his tweenage appeal. But critical acclaim (or lack thereof) aside, the record sold hundreds of thousands of copies, cementing Puth as a mainstay of pop.

断眉在他的第二张专辑《Voicenotes》中唱到“Hate me or love me/that’s just the way I am”。歌曲里用烂了这种情绪，但对于这些流行音乐小说家来说又不可或缺。他的翻唱在YouTube 上小火时，初尝甜头（2011年 Ellen DeGeneres看完断眉翻唱Adele的视频后签下他为自己厂牌的艺人）。2015年，断眉凭借在《速度与激情》原声带中献唱“See You Again”，当红一时。接下来是他首张专辑《Nine Track Mind》的惨败，这张专辑似乎过于利用了他的少年魅力。但撇开评论界的或贬或褒不谈，这张唱片仍卖出了数十万张，任巩固了断眉流行音乐前卫的地位。

Now a few years on, Puth has returned for the follow-up to his hasty debut. On his second album he’s stepped away from the slushy love ballads, revealing that this was due to “people nudging [me] in a direction that I didn’t want to go in”. Instead he recounts being spurned by an older woman (‘BOY’), snogging somebody who isn’t his girlfriend (‘How Long’) and seducing a girl who already has a boyfriend (‘Empty Cups’). In short: Charlie’s all grown up.

几年过去了，Charlie Puth在仓促出道之后又回来了。在他的第二张专辑中，他放弃了抒情情歌，透露这是因为“人们把(我)推到一个我不想去的方向”。相反，他讲述了自己被一个年长的女人(“BOY”)抛弃，与一个不是女友的人接吻(“How Long”)，勾引一个已经有男朋友的女孩(“Empty Cups”)。简而言之:Charlie Puth已经长大了。

Opening with the overdriven riffs of ‘The Way I Am’, in general ‘Voicenotes’ canters forward, barely stopping for breath. It’s a showcase of Puth’s songwriting skills which – although we knew they were there (he’s previously written for Jason Derulo and Liam Payne) – didn’t shine through on his debut. Sure, sometimes it verges into the sickly saccharine (‘Through It All’ nicks a piano line from Randy Newman and some Disney strings, and drops a sticky vocal line on top of them, and collab with American folk singer James Taylor ‘Change’ is a dreary cliché) but then there are the moments of pop brilliance.

开场曲“The Way I Am”中旋律似乎被过度渲染，但《Voicenotes》整张专辑的音律缓缓前进，几乎可以让听众一气呵成听完它。断眉的歌曲创作技巧由此可现，况且他的能力本就不凡。而专辑里那些甜掉牙的歌曲也可有流行辉煌的时刻（“Through It All”褪去了Randy Newman的钢琴调子和迪士尼风格的弦乐，而融合了断眉独特的声线，但和美国民谣歌手James Taylor合作的“Change”就相对沉闷枯燥一些）。

‘Attention’ boasts a slinky ’80s funk bassline, which crisply punctuates Puth’s schmaltzy vocals, and the old-school R&B of sultry Kehlani duet ‘Done For Me’ make it a radio-ready bop. Throughout, sparkling production (done entirely by Puth himself) lifts tracks like ‘BOY’ and ‘Empty Cups’ from what could just be cut-and-dry pop hits, instead adding twinkling synths and bucketloads of bass.

“Attention”中流露出一款动感十足的80年代放克低音，清晰地突出了断眉的歌唱技巧，与有着早期R&B风格的Kehlani合作的“Done For Me”也有席卷电台的趋势。断眉自己完成的那些制作差强人意，如“BOY”和“Empty Cups”，他没有使用大量的合成音效或者厚重的低音来填充这些歌曲。

On ‘Voicenotes’ Puth doesn’t always get it right; but for the most part he’s managed to shed his squeaky-clean reputation. After the beige offering of his debut, album two puts his stellar songwriting and cheeky lyrics front and centre, and in doing so, starts to carve him a place as a popstar in his own right.

《Voicenotes》里的断眉进步空间还很大，但在很大程度上，他成功摆脱了自己清纯男孩的人设。在他的首张专辑发行后，如果你仔细去体会他的歌词，你会在第二张专辑中看到他不为人知的另一面。想成为流行巨星的他，如今，终于上道了。