【搬运译】NME杂志评Billie专辑《When We All Fall Asleep， Where Do We Go？》

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：ConigliaFolle

校对：WhitneyL

‘When We All Fall Asleep…’ is a memorable and game-changing debut record, with Billie's disruptive streak front and centre. We'll no doubt see the mainstream scrabbling to replicate it

《When We All Fall Asleep…》是一张值得纪念的出道专辑，它甚至改变了游戏规则。因此，Billie也迅速占据了音乐界的实时中心。毫无疑问，我们将会看到主流音乐从各种方面争相模仿这张专辑。

Some artists defy descriptions. Or, at least, their inspirations, methods and expressions are often so astounding, it’s futile to try and label what they actually sound like. This line of thought, among many, is something that is becoming routine when the name Billie Eilish is mentioned. There’s plenty of talk about her “vibe” and “aura”, but little in the way of nailing down what the hell a Billie Eilish’s song is all about.

许多歌手都不喜欢标签化。或者说，他们的灵感、创作和表达方式都不按常理出牌。所以，尝试给他们的歌曲风格贴标签是徒劳的。对于很多人来说，这就是Billie Eilish这个名字出现的时候他们的感受。最近有关她的话题“潮流”和“气场”的讨论有很多，即便如此，也极少有人能够成功解读Billie Eilish的歌到底讲述的是什么。

There are plenty of reasons for that. One being that the 17-year-old’s releases have been intermittent – an EP and a smattering of singles – and the other, more importantly, is that once you try to describe why something is so good, it immediately becomes an impossible task that does justice to nobody. If the previous three years had meant that people knew the name, and not the sound, then the US teen’s debut album ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ will go someway to defining it.

这其中有很多原因。其中一个原因是她的新歌释出一直断断续续——只有一张EP和一些单曲——更重要的一点是，当你开始尝试着描述某件美好的事件时，它就会变得毫无可能并且不能一碗水端平。如果她出道生涯的前三年让人记住了她的名字，那么Billie Eilish的首张专辑《When We All Fall Asleep…》就会让大家记住她的音乐。

This album is, thankfully, a remarkable effort from an artist whose sound has become in danger of being camouflaged by hype. Her debut EP, 2017’s ‘Don’t Smile At Me’ remains a strong effort, built around her viral and breakout single of the previous year, ‘Ocean Eyes’; that record contains moments of real charm, like the bubblegum-pop ‘Bellyache’ or the brooding, bolshy ‘COPYCAT’ – though a cohesive and extensive collection it is not. 

幸运的是，这张专辑中投入的努力使她的歌声从大肆炒作中幸存。她于17年发行的首张EP《Don’t Smile At Me（不要对我微笑）》其中也包含着不懈的努力，以她在前一年大爆的单曲“Ocean Eyes（海洋之眼）”为核心进行编排；那张专辑中囊括了一些颇具魅力的片段，比如摇滚舞曲“Bellyache（腹痛）”和辗转反复、反叛的“COPYCAT（盲目的模仿者）”——尽管它并不是一张具有凝聚力而且内容广泛的专辑。

Scarcity has had little impact on her success. Since ‘Don’t Smile At Me’ was released, it has been lingering in the charts both sides of the Atlantic for the best part of a year, and she’s become both an Instagram icon (15.1 million followers at the the time of writing) as well a key spokesperson amongst her generation. Now, in March 2019, she’s undoubtedly the most-talked about teen on the planet – everyone’s got a take on, be it about her styling or attitude.

小众的风格并没有成为她通向成功的绊脚石。自从《Don’t Smile At Me（别对我微笑）》发行后，就霸占了大西洋两岸的榜单，同时也成为了一位 Instagram大v（写这篇文章的时候粉丝量为1500万），她也是同龄青少年的发言人代表。如今，在2019年三月，她无疑成为了全世界话题量最多的人—人人都有话可聊，无论是她的着装风格还是她的生活态度。

Rest-assured: ‘When We All Fall Asleep…’ is worth the wait and exceeds the hype, but the sense of occasion hasn’t quite filtered down to Billie. On the 12-second opening track ‘!!!!!!!’ she jokes about taking out her retainer, and announces that “this is the album”, before she and Finneas O’Connell – co-writer, producer and older brother – descend into laughter.

毫无疑问，《When We All Fall Asleep…》值得期待并且远远超出了人们的预期，但是名声大噪似乎并没有影响到她一贯的创作风格。在时长十二秒的开场曲“!!!!!!!”里，她戏称要摘掉自己的牙套，然后宣布了“这就是新专辑”，之后她和 Finneas O’Connell——这张专辑的共同作曲家、制作人也是哥哥——开始爆笑。

The sense of their bedroom studio is all over this album. When there’s a hint of bombast, it’s soon disregarded in favour of the playful and DIY atmosphere that’s been cultivated in her and Finneas’ lab. Second half highlight ‘My Strange Addiction’, the closest thing Billie has ever come to writing a pop song that could have been sung by someone else, is interspersed with audio from a cult episode of The Office (the American version is one of her favourite shows). Likewise, on the thrilling, thumping opening track ‘Bad Guy’, where Billie’s vocals playfully joust with the looped bassline for her heaviest and club-ready track yet, there’s a moment after the chorus where the hubbub halts and an assured “duh!” from Billie hits you around the chops. And hen the bass kicks in again. Of course it was going to be this good. Of course they’re going to have a ball making it.

他们创作中舒适和谐的气息遍布整张专辑。如果哪里有一点夸大抬高的气氛，过一会儿就会被她和Finneas实验室里愉快和 DIY的气氛所打破。专辑后半部分的主打曲“My Strange Addiction（我奇怪的上瘾）”作为Billie写过的最接近流行音乐，也最不像她自己的歌曲，其中穿插了美剧《 The Office（办公室）》的音频片段（美国拍摄的版本是她最喜欢的电视剧之一）。与其相似的是，在令人兴奋战栗、低音重击的开场曲“Bad Guy（坏男人）”中，Billie的歌声和循环的重低音同场竞技，这也是她写过最具份量、最夜店风的单曲。在副歌之后，重低音短暂停歇，随之而来的是一句坚实的 “duh!”，让听众打了个措手不及，之后重低音又重新进入。这张专辑就是应该这么出色。当然，他们制作专辑的时候一定也付出了极大的努力。

As the 14 tracks whittle along, that elusive and definable ‘sound’ starts to show itself. It’s remarkably agile; ‘Xanny’, a three-part soundclash, is perhaps the best example of the sonic palette that’s dipped into. The layered falsetto vocal trickery opens the song, while a wicked bassy onslaught warps the vocals into a slithering beast. By the end, the two coalesce into a surprisingly schmaltzy finale. The same formula is revisited and recalibrated on the previously released ‘You Should See Me In A Crown’ and ‘Ilomilo’, and the G-Funk nodding ‘All Good Girls Go To Hell’. 

在14首单曲逐渐走向尽头时，难以捉摸又笃定的’声音’开始显现真正的面孔。它十分活泼机智；“Xanny”是一首以撞音组成的三部曲，可能是他们声学实验的集中体现。铺垫的假声和音拉开了全曲的序幕，同时怪异猛烈的低音扭曲让整个人声变成了匍匐爬行的猛兽。在末尾，两个声部惊奇地合为一体，糅合成了伤感的结局。同样的编曲方式也能在最近发行的“You Should See Me In A Crown（你应当看到我头戴皇冠的模样）”和“Ilomilo（迷宫游戏）”中看到，以及匪帮朋克风格，节奏感极强的“All Good Girls Go To Hell（好女孩都下地狱吧）”。

One aspect that needed no further development: her astute lyrical skills. Each track is laden with Blilie-isms that’ll make for plenty of Instagram-caption barbs – from the profound to the playful. On ‘Xanny’, she laments the prescription medication’s impact and the ensuing crisis on youth culture: “In the second-hand smoke, still just drinking canned coke, I don’t need a Xanny to feel better”. The chorus to ‘All The Good Girls Go To Hell’, meanwhile, proves itself a sparkling gem with jaunty piano and stuttering beats: “All the good girls go to hell / Because even God herself has enemies”.

无需多言的一点是，她出色的作词能力。每首单曲都充满了Billie的个人风格，也有很多歌词能用来当作Instagram的配图文字——可深沉可娱乐。在“Xanny”中，她谈到过度服药的副作用以及对随之而来的青少年文化危机的担忧：“吸着二手烟中喝着罐装可乐，我并不需要赞尼来让我感觉更好”。在“All The Good Girls Go To Hell（好女孩都下地狱吧）”的副歌中，欢快的钢琴音和类似口吃的节拍让全曲变得与众不同，充满活力：“好女孩全都下地狱吧/因为即使是上帝她自己也有敌人。”

There’s little to plausibly fault on the record. Previous singles are included sparingly (2018’s ‘When The Party’s Over’ and ‘You Should See Me In A Crown’), and there’s a real level of intrigue waiting on every song, partly as only two new songs (‘Bury A Friend’, ‘Wish You Were Gay’) got a pre-release. It’s an album that moves with purpose and knows when to hold the listener tight, or grab them by the scruff of the neck and drag them into her world. That said, one nitpick is the pacing towards the end, with the final three songs – ‘Listen Before I Go’, ‘I Love You’ and ‘Goodbye’ – providing an melancholy end close to an otherwise thrilling album.

这张专辑并没什么需要指摘的错误。先前发行的单曲也被收入专辑（18年的“When The Party’s Over（当聚会散场时）”和“You Should See Me In A Crown（你应当看到我头戴皇冠的模样）”。每一首单曲发行之间都要经历一段焦灼的等待，只有两首新歌（‘Bury A Friend’埋葬朋友, ‘Wish You Were Gay’希望你是同性恋）被提前释出。这是一张每一步都有所意图的专辑，并且清楚要在什么地方紧紧掌控住听众，或者抓住他们的后颈，将他们拉入她的世界。如果非要鸡蛋里挑骨头的话，那就是结尾的三首歌曲节奏稍显缓慢—— ‘Listen Before I Go（在我离开之前请聆听）’, ‘I Love You（我爱你）’ and ‘Goodbye（再见）’——给一张躁动的专辑留下了悲伤的结尾。

‘When We All Fall Asleep…’, then, ticks all the boxes for a memorable and game-changing debut album. It’s enjoyable and familiar, but retains Billie’s disruptive streak. It’s a brave and resounding first step for an artist with bags of potential and over the next decade, you’ll no doubt see popular music scrabbling to try and replicate what this album does on every level. There’ll always be copycats, as Billie noted on her 2017 song of the same name, but none will be able to reach these heights any time soon.

在《When We All Fall Asleep…》之后，这张令人印象深刻、极具颠覆性的首张专辑全部结束。它很令人享受，也让人熟悉，同时也稳定了她在音乐界的地位。这对于一位潜力巨大，即将在之后继续发光的歌手来说无疑是勇敢而成功的第一步，你也将会看到主流音乐将会从各种角度努力模仿复制这张专辑。正如Billie在2017年发布的单曲“COPYCAT”中所说，永远都存在盲目的模仿者，但是没有人可以在短时间内达到同样的成就和高度。