翻譯：出自微信公眾號【RollingStone大水花】（若有侵權(quán)自刪）https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JgqDHPj2vb6co4QnCV6W6w

Zayn Malik?kicks off his third solo album wondering, as its title indicates, if anybody is listening to him. And as you might guess, he’s pretty sure nobody is: “My brain lives with the cannabis/Can I resist the dark abyss?” he offers on “Calamity,” a silly spoken-word poem in which the ex-One Direction?member turned solo hitmaker sounds like a teenage stoner.?

贊恩·馬里克的第三張個人專輯顧名思義，開頭便問還有沒有人在聽他。你可能已經(jīng)猜到，他覺得沒有了：“我的大腦和大麻共生/我能抗拒這黑暗深淵嗎？“（My brain lives with the cannabis/Can I resist the dark abyss?）他傻氣的口語詩“Calamity”唱道，讓這位成功單飛的One Direction前成員聽來像是***的中學(xué)生。

Malik has a point. It’s been more than two years since his last album,?Icarus Falls,?an aptly titled 27-track follow-up to his much sleeker 2016 debut,?Mind of Mine.?Both LPs left listeners with more questions than answers about what Malik wanted out of his post-1D career: chart-topping success or the kind of musical honesty that can lead to 27-song records named after figures from Greek mythology??

馬里克的擔(dān)心其實不無道理。距離他上張專輯《伊卡洛斯墜落》已經(jīng)兩年了，那張27首歌的專輯有一個恰如其分的名字，代表了與他第一張專輯《心解密》的落差。兩張LP都沒有指明他在One Direction之后的路線，反而叫人更加困惑：他是想稱霸流行榜，還是奉獻誠意，誠意到足以誕生一張用希臘神話人物命名，整整27首歌的作品？

Despite its brooding introduction,?Nobody Is Listening?shows both restraint and growth from a new dad who just turned 28, even if the songs seem more reflective of his relationship with longtime partner Gigi Hadid than of his journey into fatherhood. Given Malik’s R&B-crooner ambitions, it’s a good thing he can sing the hell out of a love song.?

憂郁開場后，《沒有人在聽》也展現(xiàn)了他剛滿28歲，初為人父的內(nèi)斂與成長，盡管專輯中的歌曲似乎更多是在反思他和女友吉吉·哈迪德的長期關(guān)系，而不是他為人父親的心路歷程。但馬里克就連情歌也展現(xiàn)了不俗唱功，不枉他想要做R&B歌手的努力。

The smooth lead single, “better,” is a sweet, intimate portrait of second chances that sets the tone for the coffee-shop-guitar sound of the LP. “Outside” sees him tenderly begging for forgiveness, while the falsetto-laden “Connexion” is Malik confirming that he’s ready to “go head first into the unknown.” Featuring chill vocals from neo-soul singer Syd, the breezy “When Loves Around” has Malik hinting at the possibility of marriage while showing off how well he works with the right duet partner.?

主打歌“better”流暢悅耳，甜蜜溫馨地描繪再來過的機會，為整張LP咖啡店吉他曲般的音樂奠定基調(diào)。“Outside”中，他柔聲乞求原諒，而在頻繁假音的“Connexion”里，馬里克又準備好了“一頭沖進未知”。輕快的“When Loves Around”呈現(xiàn)了新靈魂樂歌手Syd的慵懶聲線，馬里克在其中一面暗示結(jié)婚的可能，一面炫耀他和合唱搭檔的完美配合。

There are still some moments of irrepressibly horny R&B, recalling?Mind of Mine.?“Windowsill” is both the dirtiest and catchiest song on the album — much better than the diluted “Sweat,” though that song’s “In the Air Tonight” drum fill right before the chorus gives it some much-needed energy.?

這張專輯依然有情欲涌動的R&B，叫人想起《心解密》?！癢indowsill”是專輯中最臟也最洗腦的歌曲——遠遠好過索然無味，有氣無力的“Sweet”，盡管“Sweet”副歌前一段“In the Air Tonight”風(fēng)格的鼓點帶來了些許活力。

The record reaches its peak with the one-two punch of “Tightrope” and “River Road,” delicate closing statements and two of Malik’s best songs to date. The former is an inspired love song that finds power in its simplicity, with the singer repeating the phrase “Something told me it was you.” “River Road” encroaches on Leon Bridges’ retro-soul territory, as Malik sings hopefully about his future, delivering the most sobering vocal performance on a largely subdued, bedroom-y project. If he really thinks nobody is listening, that’s fine by him; there’s only one person he has in mind anyway, and there’s nothing more honest in pop music than that.

這張專輯的高潮是“Tightrope”和“River Road”，這兩首在專輯最后的精品，可以列入馬里克迄今為止最好的作品。前者是有感而發(fā)的情歌，簡潔中充滿力量，他在歌里反復(fù)唱道：“Something told me it was you”?！癛iver Road”接近利昂·布里奇斯（Leon Bridges）的復(fù)古靈魂樂，馬里克在歌里暢想未來，是這張柔和得適合在臥室聆聽的專輯里最冷靜的聲音。就算他真的覺得沒人聽他也沒關(guān)系，反正他只在乎一個人，而流行音樂里的坦誠，也莫過如此了。