【搬运译】Pitchfork评Caroline Polachek 2022年单曲“Billions”

搬运自：网易云音乐专栏【Music Online Zine Courier】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整）

翻译：豆目豆科

Co-produced by Danny L Harle, this superlative single continues the pop auteur’s lucent new era.

与Danny L Harle联合制作，这首高水平单曲进一步推动了这位流行作曲家清晰的新征程。

While 2019’s Pang was a well oiled avant-pop machine written in the aftermath of Caroline Polachek’s divorce, last year’s “Bunny Is a Rider” was an exhilarating transmutation for the singer. The boisterous single walked a fine line between anonymity and enticement.  Its follow up, “Billions,” barrels down the same path. Polachek debuted the track last year during her first live performance since the pandemic began, and she has readily admitted that she was trying to capture “the afterglow of a reopening.” Co-produced by Danny L Harle, “Billions,” is a lucent pathway towards a new era for the pop auteur.

虽然19年Caroline Polachek在离婚后撰写的一张精致而流畅的前卫流行音乐专辑《Pang》已足够亮眼，去年的单曲“Bunny Is a Rider”对这位歌手来说仍是一次令人振奋的转变。这首令人沸腾的单曲在隐匿晦涩与循循善诱间摸索出一条微妙的线索，其后续作品“Billions”也沿着同样线索继续跟进。Polachek去年疫情期间的首场现场演出中首次演唱了这首歌曲，欣然坦承道，她正试图捕捉“重新迸发的余晖”。由Danny L Harle联合制作的“Billions”是一条通向这位流行作曲家全新时代的明晰路途。

On “Billions,” Polachek takes a vocal odyssey, moving through different timbres, befuddled inflections, and octaves with colored poignancy. Polachek’s eccentric one-liners (“Salty/Flavor/Lies like a sailor/But he loves like a painter”) do not clearly point to an overarching narrative, yet they gain a clarity through the playful sweep of her vocals. Polachek appears in the music video like a cherub, crushing wine grapes while singing, “Say say say something to me,” her voice crackling with shimmering effects. In the next verse, she takes it down an octave, adding yet another color to the track’s lively palette. She drops out entirely in the final minute, letting the Trinity Choir take the reins for an epic finish. Though built around her high caliber vocal performance, “Billions” never feels oversaturated, earning every ounce of its massive weight.

在“Billions”中，Polachek开启了一段声乐征途，在不同的音色、混乱的转音、八度音中穿梭，嵌有绚丽的凄美。Polachek怪异俏皮的单人唱段（“Salty/Flavor/Lies like a sailor/But he loves like a painter”）并未明确地指向一个具体情节，但通过她戏虐灵动的唱腔，依旧能捕获到一抹清澈。在MV中，Polachek像个小天使，一边踩踏压碎酿酒葡萄，一边唱道： “Say say say something to me.”她的声音闪烁着荧光。在下一部分中，她将声音压低了一个八度，为这首歌曲亮丽的调色板增添了另一种色彩。她在最后一分钟中完全消失，接力棒来到Trinity Choir合唱团，完成了一个史诗般的尾声。总体上虽然围绕着她高水准的歌唱来呈现，“Billions”却从未让人感觉要素过多，它的分分秒秒都在为自己赢取所能达成的最大成效。