【译】美国乐评网站Pitchfork评 f（x）2015年第四张原创专辑《4 Walls》

翻译：Nomanlandever

After losing a member, one of K-pop’s most consistent and internationally appealing groups returns as a quartet for their fourth album. Casual listeners don’t need to be heavily invested in the K-pop world to get the appeal of f(x)’s music, and 4 Walls is an enjoyable listen even for those not looking to broach the language gap.

在一名成员退团后，作为K-pop风格最统一且最具国际影响力的组合之一的f（x）以四人组的形式带着她们的正规四辑回归乐坛。不是资深的K-pop粉丝的普通听众也能陷入f（x）编织的音乐魅力中，而且即使是对于不想打破语言隔阂的听众来说，《4 Walls》也是一次非常愉悦的聆听享受。

Over the last couple of years, f(x) have become one of the few K-pop groups with real international appeal and a sizable fan base in the States. The group's sophomore album, 2013’s Pink Tape, was a pop collage of ambitious sounds and ideas that tinkered with K-pop formulas, and it still stands as one of the best records the genre has ever produced. Last year’s Red Light offered a decidedly edgier synthpop sound that leaned more toward the club, though it didn’t quite meet the standard set by its predecessor. And during the promo for Red Light, group member Sulli, an actress and star for the conglomerate S.M. Entertainment, was noticeably absent from scheduled media events. After talk of mental exhaustion and a temporary f(x) hiatus, Sulli officially withdrew from the group in August, leaving K-pop’s most consistent act in a state of flux.

在过去几年里，f(x)已经成为少数几个真正具有国际影响力的K-pop组合之一，在美国拥有庞大的粉丝基础。该组合2013年第二张专辑《Pink Tape》，是张布满野心的音乐和创意且推动K-pop“套路音乐”发展的流行大杂烩专辑，仍是K-pop流派里最优秀的专辑之一。去年发行的《Red Light》显然是一种更新锐的合成流行音乐，更像夜店音乐风格靠拢，尽管没有达到前作的高度，在《Red Light》的宣传活动中，组合成员崔雪莉，SM娱乐集团的女演员和明星，显然缺席了原定的媒体活动。在精神问题的流言蜚语下，崔雪莉在暂时的f(x)活动中断后，在8月正式退出该组合，使这个K-pop乐坛中最稳定的组合陷入动荡状态。

4 Walls is f(x)'s fourth album and first with four members—hence the name—and it lands right where Pink Tape and Red Light intersect, creating a sleek electropop fun-house filled with an eclectic group of generation-spanning pop singles that fit together as a long-playing piece. It’s also the first K-pop comeback to fully acknowledge a lineup change—going as far as incorporating it into the album's marketing and lyrics—but it doesn't change much about the group’s sound. This is a superficial rebirth; though the album’s lead single and title track has veiled references to changing and becoming new, f(x)’s synthpop bounce remains steadfast and uncompromised. And though Sulli was undoubtedly a standout among the group, her departure allows others to grab the spotlight: Now, not only does rapper Amber have the opportunity to rap more, she also gets the chance to use her alto range to flesh out harmonies and bring greater balance to records like "Rude Love", an ambitious, hook-heavy tune that rivals the group's most infectious songs.

《4 Walls》是f（x）第四张专辑，也是组合首次以四人组形式发行音乐作品——因此取此专辑名——正好处于Pink Tape和Red Light风格的交汇处，做出一座流畅电子流行音乐游乐宫，且收录了一堆可流传后世保质度极高的歌曲。这也是K-pop中第一次回归大方承认阵容的变化——甚至将其纳入专辑的营销和歌词——但此组合的音乐没有大的变动。这只是一种流于表面的重生，尽管专辑的主打歌兼同名曲都隐晦地提到了“改变”和“成为新的”，但f(x)的合成流行音乐的影响力依然岿然不动。

Many tracks on 4 Walls are sourced through Jam Factory, a music publisher that uses American musicians to create lyrics and melodies for Asian markets. The company’s strength lies in penning sounds without borders, and some of 4 Walls’ strongest collaborations involve producer LDN Noise, who creates pop songs with bridges that function as hooks and transitions that overlap to keep songs stimulating. Album closer "When I’m Alone", meanwhile, was originally co-written by Carly Rae Jepsen for her recentE•MO•TION album. But the real X-factor is longtime f(x) collaborator, writer, and K-pop superproducer Kenzie, who wrote two of the album's most curious songs: "Papi" and "Cash Me Out". A Berklee School of Music grad, Kenzie navigates the cultural divide better than anyone.

《4 Walls》的许多曲目都是通过音乐出版商Jam Factory获得的，一家由美国音乐家创作歌词和旋律，专门为亚洲市场提供的公司。该公司的优势在于创作无国界的声音。而且《4 Walls》中最强势的合作有英国创作团队LDN Noise的参与，他们创作出流行歌曲的bridge部分，作为hook和过渡的部分，在歌曲中重叠出现以增进歌曲的趣味性。由Carly Rae Jepsen执笔的专辑收尾曲"When I’m Alone"最初计划收录于她最新发行的专辑《E•MO•TION》中。但真正的决定因素还是f（x）的长期合作伙伴，作词家，也是K-pop的超级制作人的Kenzie，他为专辑贡献了两首最奇特的歌曲 "Papi"和 "Cash Me Out" 。作为伯克利音乐学院的毕业生，Kenzie比任何人都能更好地驾驭文化差异。

Listening to any K-pop record (or any foreign language record, really) can prove to be a challenging experience for casual listeners simply due to the added communication barrier. You can also lose some key information in translation—even when you know what's being said, there's a layer of context missing. Still, just like any other type of music, a listener has the opportunity to fill in some of that context on their own; stripping Korean of its code is no different than reinterpreting a really dense English lyric. 4 Walls is even more accessible because f(x) songs tend to have a lot of Western cues: Many of the melodies recall songs from the American pop canon and, as with many K-pop songs, there are English lyrics spliced in throughout (at one point, Amber raps, "I was low key/ That’s the old me/ Now there’s Top 10 honeys tryna phone me").

对于普通听众来说，听任何K-pop唱片(或者任何外语唱片，真的)都是一种具有挑战性的体验，因为这增加了沟通障碍。在翻译过程中，你也可能会漏掉些关键信息——即使你知道对方在说什么，也会失去一层语境。然而，就像任何其他类型的音乐一样，听者自己也有机会加入自己的理解；剥去韩文的代码无异于重新解读一段非常难懂的英文歌词。《4 Walls》还更易懂些，因为f（x）的歌曲有很多西方元素：很多旋律都能让你联想到美国经典流行歌曲，和许多韩国流行音乐歌曲一样，有英语歌词的拼接（在某处，Amber说唱道"I was low key/ That’s the old me/ Now there’s Top 10 honeys tryna phone me"）

Western pop fans don’t need to be heavily invested in the K-pop world to get the appeal of f(x)’s music, and 4 Walls is an enjoyable listen even for those not looking to broach the language gap. Korean is a beautiful language with long multi-syllabic words that unspool in clumps and it carries American-stylized pop melodies fluently, breaking up long vowel sounds to fit into sonic phrases. There are few better introductions to K-pop than f(x), and 4 Walls is a strong introduction to f(x) 2.0.

不了解K-pop的西方流行音乐的粉丝们也能陷入f（x）编织的音乐魅力中，而且即使是对于不想打破语言隔阂的听众来说，《4 Walls》也是一次非常愉悦的聆听享受。韩语是一种美丽的语言，会成群地展开多音节词汇，它流畅地引导着美国式的流行旋律，把长元音分解融入乐段中。很少有比f(x)更有资格介绍韩国流行音乐的人物，而《4 Walls》正是f(x) 2.0的有力介绍。