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

審校：Ryan-Chopin

The precocious 20-year-old singer fuses R&B, soul, and trip-hop on a debut album that documents her ongoing quest to discover who she is and how she fits into a troubled world.

這位20歲的歌手在她的首張專輯中融合了R&B，靈魂樂和trip-hop。這張專輯記錄了她不斷探索真我、成功融進混沌之中的過程。

“Why do we fall down with innocence?”?Jorja Smith?wonders on the opening title track of?Lost & Found. The 20-year-old English singer’s deeply personal debut is full of impressionistic questions like this, yet she never demands easy answers. Her approach to seeking self-knowledge is compassionate and patient, demonstrative of a keen intellect and rich with precocious wisdom.

“為何我們依附清白而卻失敗（歌詞翻譯源于網(wǎng)易云音樂）”Jorja Smith在《Lost & Found（失物招領(lǐng)）》的首支單曲中表現(xiàn)出色。這位20歲的英國歌手的初次登臺，就拋出了諸如此類讓人印象深刻的問題，但她要的答案可不簡單。她尋求自我認知的方法極富同情與耐心，表現(xiàn)出敏銳的智力，有著經(jīng)驗豐富的早熟智慧。

“I need to grow and find myself before I let somebody love me/Because at the moment I don’t know me,” she admits on “Teenage Fantasy.” On “February 3rd,” she reflects, “I’m constantly finding myself.” But she doesn’t seem worried about the final result of that search. Smith makes the restlessness of young adulthood sound elegant.

“答應(yīng)別人的追求之前我要先成長并找到自我（歌詞翻譯源于網(wǎng)易云）”，她在“Teenage Fantasy”中唱到。在“February 3rd”一曲中，她唱到“我一直在不斷地找尋自我”，但她似乎毫不擔(dān)心這場探尋的結(jié)果，Smith讓年輕人的這種躁動不安聽起來很優(yōu)美。

That self-assurance is what makes her special, and what makes her music sound timeless. “I know what I’m doing,” she told?Pitchfork?last year, and her music reflects that independence. After emerging in 2016 with the commanding?Project 11?EP and finishing fourth on the BBC’s?Sound of 2017 list, she employed expert restraint in picking her next moves: two features on Drake’s?More Life, a solo?placement?on?Kendrick Lamar’s?Black Panther?soundtrack, a handful of?cool?collabs, and a few stellar standalone?singles. The further she descended into herself, in disarmingly sincere?ballads?and?DIY music videos, the higher her star rose.

這種自信讓她變得與眾不同，也使她的音樂能夠經(jīng)久不衰。她去年告訴Pitchfork “我知道我在做什么”，她的音樂恰恰反映了這種獨立性。她在2016年時初露頭角，發(fā)行了《Project 11》這張EP，并名列BBC的2017年度之聲的第四位，她抉擇隨后的工作極其謹慎：兩次與Drake在專輯《More Life》中合作，在Kendrick Lamar的黑豹原聲帶中演唱，這個原聲帶中有很多非?？岬暮献鲉吻€有一些獨唱單曲。隨著她進一步沉溺于自己的內(nèi)心，展露在了一些真誠的抒情歌曲和DIY視頻中，她的咖位也越來越高了。

Comprising a brisk but dense 12 songs (including four previously released tracks and several others Smith has teased live),?Lost & Found?is the biggest test to date of Smith’s commitment to making music on her own terms. The result is a bold statement of artistic purpose. There’s nothing resembling “On My Mind,” her infectious 2017 collaboration with?Preditah, nor does Smith seem to be taking cues from contemporary pop radio. She’s doing things her way.

《Lost & Found》中包含了12首輕快而難以捉摸的單曲（包括了四首已經(jīng)發(fā)行的單曲，其它的單曲Smith也現(xiàn)場演唱過），《Lost & Found》是Smith致力于用自己的方式做音樂時所面臨的最大挑戰(zhàn)，這張專輯也是她對自己藝術(shù)目標的大膽陳述。她在2017年與Preditah合作發(fā)行了“On My Mind” 這一熱單，不過她自己的音樂中可能不會再有像“On My Mind”的單曲了吧，因為她看起來并沒有從當代流行電臺中吸取元素，她是在按照自己的方式做音樂。

While?Project 11?often resembled?Amy Winehouse’s?Frank,?Lost & Found?forges a more original sound, incorporating adult contemporary, R&B, acoustic folk, jazz, dancehall, and even gospel (on the stunning “Tomorrow”). But it’s most indebted to 1990s trip-hop in the vein of?Portishead?and?Massive Attack. The instrumentals on “Lost & Found,” “Teenage Fantasy,” and standout single “Where Did I Go” rely on the same kind of downtempo, backbeat-laced grooves that so?perfectly suited?Morcheeba?frontwoman Skye Edwards’ silky voice and breathless delivery. But Smith doesn’t whisper—she belts.?Lost & Found?thrives on emotionally raw minimalism, with her voice as the central instrument. Pure and soulful, it stretches like a rubber band, soaring between virtuosic Winehouse warmth and vertiginous,?FKA twigs-style falsetto.

雖然《Project 11》與Amy Winehouse 的《Frank》有些相似，但《Lost & Found》打造出了一種更原創(chuàng)的聲音，其中涵蓋了成人當代、R&B、原生民謠、爵士、舞曲，甚至福音音樂（在單曲“Tomorrow”中可以聽到），這得多虧了90年代Portishead和Massive Attack發(fā)揚了迷幻舞曲，“Lost & Found”“Teenage Fantasy”的伴奏，以及熱單“Where Did I Go”也是有著這樣慢搖的風(fēng)格與基本的節(jié)奏；但這種風(fēng)格也非常適合Morcheeba的主唱Skye Edwards那絲綢般的嗓音，還有她那令人瞠目的音樂表達。但是Smith并沒有低聲細語，而是大膽地表達出了她的想法。《Lost & Found》中，Smith的樂器就是她的聲音，在情感表達上，這張專輯可以說是把未加工的極簡主義發(fā)揮到了極致。它純粹而深情，就像皮筋一樣慢慢被拉開一樣，結(jié)合了Winehouse（Amy Winehouse）的溫暖和FKA twigs風(fēng)格的迷幻假音。

It’s an appropriately mutable centerpiece for an album centered on youthful searching and questioning. “Teenage Fantasy,” written when Smith was 16 and originally released in 2017, has her singing smokily about a good-for-nothing lover, only to unleash the full power of her voice in a poignant chorus so vehement, it feels like she’s delivering it through a megaphone: “We all want a teenage fantasy/Want it when we can’t have it/When we got it we don’t seem to want it.” This is a familiar sentiment, but Smith’s intensity gives it new resonance.

這張專輯聚焦于對年輕的探索與質(zhì)疑，可以說這是一個可適度變化的主題?！癟eenage Fantasy”是Smith16歲時寫的，最初在2017年時發(fā)行，她頹頹地歌頌著一個無私的好情人，只為在凄美的和聲中釋放出她聲音的全部力量，這就感覺像是她在用擴音器傳遞：“We all want a teenage fantasy/Want it when we can’t have it/When we got it we don’t seem to want it.【我們都向往年少單純的愛情，得不到的時候心向往之，得到了卻不珍惜（歌詞翻譯源于網(wǎng)易云）】”這種情感對我們來說再熟悉不過了，但是Smith富有情感的演唱給予了它新的共鳴。

The previously unreleased track “On Your Own” could be a cut from?Rihanna’s?ANTI, with Smith’s howling vocals moving nimbly through dancehall drums and distortion. “The One” is even better and more surprising, employing morose piano and a Brazilian samba-tinged groove (anchored, like much of the album, by live instrumentation) that simultaneously encourage hip-swaying and wondering about your exes. “I’m not trynna let you in/Even if I found the one,” she warns a suitor. These songs help to build the convincing character of a young woman who is scowling and swaggering, only as vulnerable as she wants to be.

之前未發(fā)行的單曲“On Your Own”本可能會被當作Rihanna的專輯《ANTI》的某首歌，Smith咆哮著的怒音在舞曲的鼓點和失真中敏捷地轉(zhuǎn)動著?！癟he One”這首單曲甚至更好，更讓人驚喜，它采用了柔和的鋼琴和巴西的桑巴舞節(jié)奏（這張專輯很多都采用樂器現(xiàn)場錄音的方式），這同時也讓你有一種想扭動身體的沖動，也能讓你想起你的前任來。她警告一個求婚者：“I’m not trynna let you in/Even if I found the one（我不會再讓你插手了，如果我能找到這個人的話）。”這些歌曲有助于塑造一個令人信服的年輕女性角色——一個年輕女人皺著眉頭，大搖大擺，但也能隨心所欲變得很嬌弱。

But Smith’s wanderings extend far beyond the personal, and it’s this insight and curiosity that elevate her work. “Blue Lights,” her 2016 debut single, resurfaces here; its heartbreaking and transporting?take on police brutality and racial profiling?remains a remarkable feat of storytelling. This time, Smith’s questions are posed rhetorically, to illuminate injustice: “What have you done?/There’s no need to run/If you’ve done nothing wrong/Blue lights should just pass you by.” “Lifeboats (Freestyle)” is a spoken-word take on privilege, income disparity, and the failures of the welfare state. “So why are all the richies staying afloat?/See all my brothers drowning even though they’re in the boat/Mothership ain’t helpin’ anyone,” she raps with the swagger of a young?Lauryn Hill, indicting her government for its treatment of marginalized citizens and mishandling of the refugee crisis.

Smith的思維漫游遠遠超過了她的個人范圍，而正是這種洞察力和好奇心讓她的作品大有提升。2016年發(fā)行的首支單曲“Blue Light”，橫空出世，它讓人心碎，大膽講述了警察虐打犯人事件和種族形象定性，這仍然是人們談資的重點。這一次，Smith的問題很講究修辭性，以說明不公正：“What have you done?/There’s no need to run/If you’ve done nothing wrong/Blue lights should just pass you by.【你都做了些什么？你沒必要逃跑，如果你沒有做錯任何事，幽藍的光只會與你擦身而過（歌詞翻譯源于網(wǎng)易云）】”“Lifeboats (Freestyle)”是一個口頭詞，它表明了特權(quán)、收入差距和福利國家的失敗?！癝o why are all the richies staying afloat?/See all my brothers drowning even though they’re in the boat/Mothership ain’t helpin’ anyone（所以為什么所有的富人都能活下來？即使我的兄弟們在船上，我也看著他們沉入水中，航母并不會幫助任何人）。”她以Lauryn Hill招搖的方式在歌中rap著，指責(zé)她的政府對待邊緣化公民以及錯誤地處理了難民危機。

It’s not surprising that Smith?resents comparisons?to other artists, but her link to Hill is clear. Another wildly talented, young, black woman looking for clarity in a world built for everyone but her, Hill used her music to transform her pain into salvation. Just three years younger now than Hill was when?The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill?was released, Smith shares her predecessor’s wounded takes on the world’s injustices and compulsion to search for deep truths.

Smith討厭與其他藝術(shù)家比較，這并不奇怪，但她與Hill的聯(lián)系很清晰。Hill是另一位才華橫溢的年輕黑人女性，她在那為所有人(除她以外)打造的世界中尋找明晰的一面，她用她的音樂將痛苦轉(zhuǎn)化為救贖。Smith僅僅比Hill發(fā)型《The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill》時年輕3歲，Smith告訴我們，她用前任所帶來的傷害來展現(xiàn)出世界的不公，那些歷史使她被迫去尋找那些深藏的真相。

On?Miseducation’s luminous?title track, Hill sings what could be Smith’s battle cry: “Deep in my heart, the answer, it was in me/And I made up my mind to define my own destiny.” On?Lost & Found, Smith is defining her own destiny. In the process, she confirms that she is special and rare, an asker of impossible but necessary questions.

《The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill》中有那些閃閃發(fā)光的標題曲目，Hill唱出了Smiith的戰(zhàn)斗口號：“Deep in my heart, the answer, it was in me/And I made up my mind to define my own destiny.（答案就在我的內(nèi)心深處，它就在我的身上/我決定主宰自己的命運。）”而在《Lost & Found》中，Smith正在定義她自己的命運。 在這個過程中，她確信她很特別、很少見，是一位敢于對自己不可能做到但有必要出力之事的發(fā)問者。