J-pop performer Namie Amuro is one of the best-selling artists in Japanese music history. Her 12th album,?_genic,?isn't quite her bid for U.S. domination, but it features contributions from PC Music producer Sophie and EDM star David Guetta and is sung in English. The album results in some of her catchiest and most direct material ever.

安室奈美惠是日本音樂史上最暢銷的歌手之一。她的第12張錄音室專輯《_genic》并不是以進軍美國為目標，但這張有EDM之星David Guetta，PC音樂制作人Sophie操刀的專輯，并用英語演唱。這張專輯做出了她職業(yè)生涯中一些最朗朗上口，最直接的東西。

J-pop performer Namie Amuro is one of the best-selling artists in Japanese music history. She helped inspired fashion trends, paved the way for similar solo singers, and—most impressively—outlasted all of her competition,?adapting to new styles that helped her stay fresh to the often-fickle Japanese casual music consumer. Beginning her career in the?highly goofy?group Super Monkey's, she went solo after label higher-ups singled her out, and she rose to prominence through a mix of?dance numbers?and?ballads. Since, she's glided from R&B to poppy hip-hop.??She's an unknown entity Stateside—well, at least to those who didn't?watch Toonami daily—but huge in Asia. In Japan, at least,?she really has nothing left to prove.

安室奈美惠是日本音樂史上最暢銷的歌手之一。她推動創(chuàng)造出新的時尚潮流，為同類的solo歌手鋪平了道路——最令人印象深刻的是——在她職業(yè)生涯中，她不斷適應(yīng)新風格，讓她在變化無常的日本休閑音樂消費者面前始終保持新鮮感。她以傻氣十足的Super Monkey’s組合形式出道，之后公司高層讓她solo出道，靠著一系列舞曲和抒情曲聲名鶴起。從那時起，她轉(zhuǎn)型至R&B，旋律優(yōu)美的Hip-pop路線。她在美國并不為人所知——至少對那些不天天看《Toonami》的人來說是這樣——但在亞洲，至少在日本，她無需向任何人證明自己。

This January, Japanese publication?Business Journal?reported?that?Amuro bought a house in Los Angeles and is preparing to take a shot at the American market. Her 13th album,_genic, is not quite that bid for American domination: It hasn't been backed by a media blitz or hyped-up?collaborations. It isn't even available in the States yet, though the rest of her discography hitting iTunes hints that it eventually will be. Yet the album still implies a shift in approach. Amuro sings mostly in English, and teamed up with a couple well-known Western producers, including?David Guetta.

今年1月，日本《商業(yè)雜志》(Business Journal)報道稱，安室奈美惠在洛杉磯購買了一套房子，并準備進軍美國市場。她的第13張專輯《_genic》并不是為了進軍美國市場：因為沒有任何媒體推廣宣傳，刻意造勢這張專輯。這張專輯甚至還沒有在美國上市，盡管她其他已在iTunes上架的專輯表明了這張專輯終究會上市。但這張專輯仍暗示著一種方式的轉(zhuǎn)變。安室奈美惠主要用英語歌唱，與一些有名的西方制作人合作，包括David Guetta。

In recent years, she has tacked towards EDM, but where recent attempts have felt like cheap replicas, ?_genic?sounds more inspired and confident. "Time Has Come" sells the drama of wanting to escape "this sleeping town" via sudden tempo changes, while "Stranger" delivers a stuttering hook, adding an element of welcome unease. (At one point, EDM wonderkid?Zedd,?who?provided a song?for Amuro's last album, was rumored to be the producer behind the song "Stranger", but his name is nowhere to be found in the notes.)

近年來，她轉(zhuǎn)型EDM風格，但做出來的成品像廉價的復(fù)制品，但《_genic》聽感上更顯靈性和自信。歌曲《Time Has Come》通過突然的節(jié)奏變化設(shè)立了想要逃離“沉睡之城”的戲劇場景。同時，歌曲《Stranger》獻上一段有些結(jié)巴的hook，增添了受聽眾喜愛的不安感元素。（EDM神童Zedd之前為安室奈美惠上一張專輯做了首歌（《Heaven》），一度傳聞他是歌曲《Stranger》的幕后制作人，但他名字沒有在注釋信息中出現(xiàn)。）

Amuro stumbles at various points, such as on "Every Woman", a well-intentioned but awkward empowerment anthem, and the love-as-schoolyard whistler "It". The album's big Guetta collaboration, relegated to the bonus track "What I Did for Love", is its most formulaic number. The other big tripping point is Amuro's decision to primarily sing in English, a choice she made three albums ago. Her English-speaking fans tend to mock her relentlessly for this, and at times she slips over pronunciation. Yet her lyrics have never been a high point even in Japanese, and on?_genic?she delivers her words directly and with a confidence that smooths over any small mistakes.

安室奈美惠在許多地方都失手了，比如在歌曲《Every Woman》中，一首出發(fā)點很好但很尷尬的女權(quán)頌歌，還有那首充滿校園愛意的口哨曲《It》。與David Guetta的大合作歌曲《What I Did for Love》卻被劃為贈送曲目了，也是專輯最公式化的歌曲。另一個失手的地方便是安室奈美惠以英語演唱的決定，她在三張專輯以前做出的決定。她那些會說英語的粉絲們總是絲毫不留情面的嘲笑她這點，而且有時她會漏掉一些發(fā)音。但即使用日語，她的歌詞也沒什么深意，在專輯《_genic》里她自信地演唱，掩蓋了那些小差錯。

Then there is "B Who I Want 2 Be", one of the weirder songs to grace a major-label pop album in 2015. Many would glance at the credits and assume it stands out because of PC Music-affiliated producer?Sophie. The song boasts his signature artificial fizz, but it's his decision to leave plenty of space for the singers that ends up his best move. That's because "2 B" finds Amuro dueting with singing-synthesizer avatar?Hatsune Miku, though the way Vocaloid artist Mitchie M tunes her results in a song where the two singers blur into one digi-voice. There's a definite?Uncanny Valley?vibe, but everything clicks together just right to create a disorientingly catchy number.

還有歌曲《B Who I Want 2 Be》，這是2015年主流廠牌發(fā)行的流行專輯中最奇葩的歌曲之一。許多人會撇眼下工作人員表，猜測正是因為隸屬于PC音樂的制作人Sophie，這首歌才如此突出。這首歌里面存在著他標志性的人造汽笛，但他給歌手足夠發(fā)揮空間的抉擇才造就了這一佳作。正式因為歌曲《B Who I Want 2 Be》里安室奈美惠與“合成器化身”初音未來的合唱，聲樂藝術(shù)家Mitchie M將兩位歌手的聲音模糊成一個數(shù)字化的聲音。歌曲存在著明晰的恐怖谷氛圍，所有的嘗試最終成功創(chuàng)造出一首迷幻且抓耳的歌曲。

Still,?_genic's best moment is its most straightforward. "Golden Touch" breakbeats forward, every few seconds leading to synths that burst like fireworks over the song. It all builds to one of the most joyful choruses of Amuro's career, the sort of hook begging to be blasted by passing cars. It's song-of-the-summer material thanks to its directness, mirrored by an equally lighthearted and effective?video. It's great pop because no one involved sounds like they're worrying about how to tailor her music to new audiences. If Amuro ever takes advantage of her new digs and tries to debut properly in the U.S., she should try to hold onto the simplicity of this feeling.

不過，專輯《_genic》最佳時刻卻是最直截了當?shù)??！禛olden Touch》中每隔幾秒出現(xiàn)的碎拍節(jié)奏合成器音效讓歌曲如煙花般爆炸。這也標志著這成為安室奈美惠職業(yè)生涯上最令人心潮澎湃的副歌之一。這種hook像是即將被川流不息的車輛撞炸一樣燃。得多虧歌曲的坦率直白，也同樣輕松快樂，拍出預(yù)期效果的MV，才造就出這首“夏日之歌”。這是首很棒的流行歌曲，因為這首歌聽起來 像是幕后操刀歌曲的工作人員并沒有考慮過 如何讓安室奈美惠的音樂貼近新聽眾們這個問題。如果安室奈美惠想過利用她在美國的新住宅，在美國出道大放光彩，她應(yīng)該堅持保持這種簡潔的感覺。