搬運自：微信公眾號【評論搬一堆】（在原文基礎(chǔ)上添加了英語原文與排版調(diào)整）

翻譯：Lynn Liu

審譯：Ryan-Chopin

排版：Ryan-Chopin

作者：Noah Yoo

While the brooding pop singer can’t always shake the anodyne songwriting that plagued her past work,?III?is still Banks’ best album to date.

盡管這位神秘的流行歌手總是不能擺脫掉限制她以往作品中平淡的歌曲創(chuàng)作，可《III》仍然是Banks迄今為止最好的專輯。

In 2013, Jillian Banks?emerged?as a poster girl for brooding, twilight-hours pop. She made all the right moves for an artist working in the burgeoning “alternative R&B” space: She committed to a monochromatic aesthetic, linked up with trendy collaborators, and commissioned Hype Machine-ready remixes. It worked, to an extent. Following a stint opening for?the Weeknd,?Banks?became a relatively well-known name. Yet despite impressive stream counts, even her biggest singles weren’t quite enough to push her over the edge. Her signature sound relied on cookie-cutter production and “indie-pop voice” that weren’t hard to find elsewhere. With her latest album,?III, Banks seems eager to reestablish her footing and take greater creative risks. While she can’t always shake the anodyne songwriting that plagued her?past work, it’s still her best album to date.

2013年， Jillian Banks以海報女郎的身份出現(xiàn)在神秘、虛幻的流行樂中。作為一名新興“另類R&B”領(lǐng)域的藝術(shù)家，她做出了所有正確的舉動:她致力于單色美學(xué)，與時髦的伙伴合作，并委托Hype Machine（譯者注：一個原創(chuàng)音樂app）的音樂人進(jìn)行混音。在某種程度上，這很不賴。在Banks參與了The Weeknd一段時間的巡演后，她變得小有名氣。然而，她雖有著可觀的流量，但即使是她最火的單曲也還差了口氣。她的標(biāo)志性的嗓音依賴于千篇一律的制作，以及在其他地方不難找到的“獨立流行樂的聲音”。Banks的最新專輯《III》似乎有些急于讓她重新站穩(wěn)腳跟，而且這張專輯承擔(dān)著更大的創(chuàng)作風(fēng)險。盡管這位神秘的流行歌手總是不能擺脫掉限制她之前作品里那平淡的歌曲創(chuàng)作，可《III》仍然是Banks迄今為止最好的專輯。

Other than Banks herself, the most prominent presence on?III?is producer and?Bon Iver?collaborator BJ Burton, who produces or co-produces 10 of the album’s 13 tracks. He brings his unique bag of tricks—the?Messina vocal harmonizer technique?popularized on?22,?A Million, the apocalyptic distortion that defined?Low’s?Double Negative. Paired with Banks’ voice, these strategies work wonders, and album opener “Till Now” sets the tone with liberal doses of both. A song like “Stroke” may lack lyrical finesse—“Say it’s hard to breathe inside my ocean/I give you the deep, but you’re still floating”—but flanked by Burton’s growling fuzz, Banks stands confident, smirking as waves of low-end crash around her.

除Banks本人之外，《III》中最引人注目的角色便是制作人兼Bon Iver的合作伙伴BJ Burton，他在專輯的13首歌曲中擔(dān)任了10首歌曲的制作人或是聯(lián)合制作人。他帶來了他獨特的技巧——墨西拿和聲技術(shù)，它在“22”“A?Million”中都得到了體現(xiàn)；另一個便是混亂失真的效果，它奠基了Low的《Double Negative》。與Banks的聲音相配合時，這些策略產(chǎn)生了神奇的效果，而專輯的首支單曲“Till Now”則為這兩種策略設(shè)定了寬松的基調(diào)。像“Stroke”這樣的歌曲可能缺乏抒情的技巧——“Say it’s hard to breathe inside my ocean（在我的海洋之中難以呼吸）/I give you the deep（我想要給予你深沉的愛）, but you’re still floating（但你卻一直不肯接受）”——但在Burton咆哮般的雜亂聲環(huán)繞下，Banks自信地站在那里，得意地笑著，被一波又一波的廉價碰撞聲所環(huán)繞。

On its face, lead single “Gimme” is another haughty banger about unfulfilled lust. But where on past albums it may have sounded lifeless, Banks’ voice sears through “Gimme” like twisted metal.?Hudson Mohawke’s speaker-busting drums and bass blasts undergird a syncopated synth line reminiscent of Justin Timberlake’s classic “My Love.” Ballad “Hawaiian Mazes” strikes a diaristic tone against a melancholy backdrop of piano and old-world string trills, courtesy of Frank Ocean musical director Buddy Ross. “Telling me why you left and then complain you’re alone and I don’t know why,” Banks cries at the song’s apex. Though her lyrics can be as stilted as ever (“I tried my best to follow, but you moving too fast on ya daddy long legs”), the stream-of-consciousness style works far better than more playlist-ready fare.

從表面上看，主打單曲“Gimme”又是一首對欲望沒有被滿足的傲慢咆哮。但在之前的專輯中，它可能聽起來毫無生氣，而Banks的聲音卻像扭曲的金屬一樣，在“Gimme”中回蕩。Hudson Mohawke的鼓聲和低音為切分音合成器音色的旋律線條奠定了基礎(chǔ)，這讓人想起Justin Timberlake的經(jīng)典歌曲“My Love”。抒情歌曲“Hawaiian Mazes”在鋼琴和非現(xiàn)代弦樂顫音的憂郁背景音下，以日記式的語氣展開，由Frank Ocean的音樂總監(jiān)Buddy Ross所制作。“Telling me why you left and then complain you’re alone and I don’t know why（告訴我你為什么離開，然后抱怨說你是一個人，我不知道為什么）”Banks在歌曲的高潮處喊道。盡管她的歌詞一如既往的僵硬（I tried my best to follow, but you moving too fast on ya daddy long legs（我已用盡全力去追趕，但你的大長腿讓你跑的很快）”），意識流風(fēng)格作品的效果遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)好于那些早已被聽爛的作品。

When Banks does attempt the latter, she stumbles. The lone collaboration, “Look What You’re Doing to Me,” featuring?Francis and the Lights, fails to extract a memorable melody from either party. “Alaska” half-heartedly pursues a pseudo-dancehall vibe that never finds its rhythm, while “If We Were Made of Water” tries to rebottle the quivering magic of “Warm Water,” Banks’ similarly aquatic 2013 breakout single. When she sings, “Maybe if you say it again, change some words around, maybe I’ll believe you then,” she’s also speaking on behalf of her listeners.

The most interesting moments on?III?tap into life experiences beyond doomed relationships. On “The Fall,” a sharp-tongued critique of the music industry co-written with?Miguel, Banks adopts the perspective of a record company bigwig and attacks herself viciously, painting a picture of gaslighting and sexualization that scans all too familiar. It’s not her best vocal performance—Banks can sound brittle through Auto-Tune, and rap-singing isn’t her forte—but it’s one of the only times we glimpse the?real?Jillian Banks, ostensibly the driving force behind all these songs. Seven years after her debut,?III?brings the overblown excitement around her career to an official close. With the death of that hype, she’s finally delivered a record that gives her room to expand.

當(dāng)Banks真的嘗試后者時，她卻步履蹣跚。唯一的合作單曲，“Look What You’re Doing to Me”，這支單曲與Francis和the Lights合作而成，但它未能從任何一方提煉出一個抓耳的旋律?！癆laska”不走心地追求著一種永遠(yuǎn)找不到節(jié)奏的假舞廳氛圍，而“If We Were Made of Water”則試圖重現(xiàn)Banks?2013年同樣以水為主題的突破性單曲“Warm Water”，這首曲子有著令人著迷的魔力。當(dāng)她唱到，“Maybe if you say it again, change some words around, maybe I’ll believe you then（如果你再說一遍，換個說法，也許我會相信你）”她也在代表她的聽眾說話。

《III》中最有趣的時刻便是進(jìn)入到不只有注定失敗的感情的人生經(jīng)歷中去。在與Miguel共同創(chuàng)作的“The Fall”一曲中，Banks對音樂行業(yè)提出了尖銳的批評，她采用了唱片公司大亨的視角，對自己進(jìn)行了惡毒的攻擊，描繪了一幅過于熟悉的裝神弄鬼且欲化的畫面。這并不是她最好的聲樂表演——Banks的嗓音在經(jīng)音高修正器調(diào)整后聽起來很脆弱，說唱也不是她的強(qiáng)項——但這是我們唯一一次看到“真正的”Jillian Banks，表面上，她是所有歌曲背后的推動力。在她出道7年后，《III》給她的職業(yè)生涯畫上了一個正式的句號。隨著這種炒作的消失，她終于創(chuàng)造了一個新紀(jì)錄，讓她有了更多發(fā)展的空間。