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：Winnie Hess

校對：Ryan-Chopin

推送：Lynn Liu

一位R&B創(chuàng)新者想知道他的處女作在后續(xù)發(fā)展中的意義。

Khalid?Robinson’s 2017 debut LP,?American Teen,?was a coming-of-age record that made young-dumb brokeness feel like the only way to go. At 19, Khalid had appeared on tracks by Kendrick Lamar and Future, and he was tight with Kylie Jenner. Yet he perfectly inhabited the world of an average high school kid as he tried to make sense of his messy emotions over Eighties-loving R&B tracks. The results reduced Drake-size ambition to the relatable scale of a dude who sang about living with his folks.

halid Robinson在2017年發(fā)布首張唱片《American Teen》，這張專輯可謂其成長的記錄，讓聽過“Young Dumb”這首歌的聽眾感覺“broke（心碎）”（譯者注：這首歌的副歌部分就唱到“Young dumb broke”）是青春必經(jīng)之路。Khalid在19歲就與Kendrick Lamar和Future進(jìn)行了合作，并且他和Kylie Jenner關(guān)系也不錯。不過在他試圖弄清楚自己對80年代的R&B歌曲的復(fù)雜情緒時，他完美地融入進(jìn)了一個普通高中生的世界。結(jié)果就是他從想成為將像Drake那樣的大牌，變成了一個唱著與家人和諧生活的家伙。

A gifted artist with a searching voice that can suggest a stoner Sam Cooke, Khalid further developed his pop chops on last year’s?Suncity?EP, nodding to reggaeton and Coldplay-esque melody. That wide-ranging talent is on display all over his second LP. The best moments recall?American Teen’s airy feel and warm charisma. “Talk,” produced by U.K. house duo -Disclosure, is a gorgeously bloopy synth-soul strut; on “Right Back,” Khalid extends an invitation to hang at the beach, over a sparkling track that smoothly interpolates Big Pun’s Nineties classic “Still Not a Player.”

Khalid是一位才華橫溢的藝術(shù)家，他深沉的嗓音讓人聯(lián)想到“靈魂樂之王”Sam Cooke。Khalid在去年發(fā)布的唱片“Suncity”中進(jìn)一步發(fā)掘了自己的流行音樂天賦，他本人也在向雷鬼頓音樂和樂隊Coldplay風(fēng)格的旋律致意。他在第二張專輯中展示了自己的眾多才能，其中最出色的音樂時刻能讓人們回想起《American Teen》輕快的感覺和發(fā)散出的溫暖魅力?！癟alk”由英國電子音樂組合Disclosure參與制作，這首合成靈魂樂華麗得刺耳，卻支撐著專輯的基調(diào)。在“Right Back”中，Khalid發(fā)出了去海灘的邀請，在這首散發(fā)光芒的曲目中，他流暢地篡改了90年代Big Pun的經(jīng)典曲目“Still Not a Player”。

The credits to?Free Spirit?include Norse hitmakers Stargate, and Portugal. The Man producer John Hill. Yet despite some noteworthy cameos — John Mayer on the feathery disco tune “Outta My Head,” Father John Misty assisting on production for the maudlin “Heaven” — the LP isn’t overly burdened by the bold-faced guest spots you’d expect on a follow-up by an artist coming off a Top 10 debut. Instead, it gets tripped up by a different sophomore pitfall: Now that he isn’t an underdog, Khalid lapses into a little too much new-star introspection, exploring an ivory-tower aloneness that can recall the Weeknd’s goth-‘n’-B. On “My Bad,” he tries to stir some drama out of missing your texts because he was working too late at the studio, with nothing to ease his angst but some limpid George Benson guitar flicks. Elsewhere, why-me reflections like “Alive” and “Hundred” feel like solo late-night Uber rides into the dark heart of the soul.

《Free Spirit》的加分項要屬有挪威熱單制造者Stargate和Portugal. The Man的制作人John Hill加盟。專輯里還有一些值得注意的客串，John Mayer參與了輕柔的迪斯科小調(diào)“Outta My Head”的制作，F(xiàn)ather John Misty協(xié)助制作了傷感的“Heaven”。專輯并沒有因為過多的客串而負(fù)重，而你可能會期待這些合作能讓這張專輯有單曲進(jìn)入前十。

相反，它落入了另一個有兩年經(jīng)驗的人的陷阱，由于他的音樂成績也不遜色了，Khalid陷入了過多的新手才有的反省，想在“My Bad”里挖掘出一中象牙塔般的孤寂感，讓人聽了能聯(lián)想到Weeknd。他試圖想從“想你的來信了”這一點引出一些戲劇性，而因為他在演播室工作得太晚了，除了George Benson幾首平靜的吉他曲之外，沒有什么能緩解他的焦慮。在其他歌里，“Alive”和“Hundred”這樣的自我反思讓人感覺像是他在深夜獨自在優(yōu)步打了個車，便駛?cè)肓遂`魂深處的黑暗。

The self-examining gloom?gets thicker as the record proceeds. But Khalid remains a sympathetic guy; see “Self,”where he shifts from bluesy grumble to flighty falsetto as he observes, “My raw emotion make me less of a man?” turning self-doubt into a critique of phony masculinity.

隨著曲目一首首播放，自我反思的陰霾越來越厚，但Khalid仍然是一個富有同情心的人。在“Self”中，當(dāng)他察覺到“悲傷的情感讓我不太man”的時候，他的聲音從布魯斯式的抱怨轉(zhuǎn)變成了輕浮的假聲，從而把對自我的懷疑變成了對虛假男子氣概的批判。

That openness also comes through on the bonus track “Saturday Nights,” also on?Suncity; Khalid’s voice vaults beautifully as he sings to a girl with a rough home?life and a job she hates. It’s a sweet song with a classic message: Growing up is hard to do.?Free Spirit?reminds us just how weird it can be.

這種開放言論在曲目“Saturday Nights”和“Suncity”中也有所體現(xiàn)。Khalid若是給一個生活艱難、工作不如意的女孩唱歌，他的聲音會非常動聽，而他唱的這首動聽的歌傳達(dá)了一個你我熟知的信息：成長并不簡單。《自由精神》這張專輯讓我們感覺這一信息是多么的奇葩。