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

翻譯：Ryan-Chopin

校對：Lynn Liu

排版：Ryan-Chopin

這位來自英國的流行樂未來主義者組建了一個slay慘的創(chuàng)意團隊，并且在其音樂中盡顯（她近年經(jīng)歷的）苦難掙扎。

（譯者注：專輯名《Magdalene/抹大拉的瑪麗亞》中的瑪利亞一直以一個被耶穌拯救的形象出現(xiàn)在基督教的傳說里，后有說法她可能是耶穌在世間最親密的信仰伴侶，或者說她是未被正史記載的最受耶穌教誨最得其神髓的門徒。）

An Afrofuturist?Kate Bush?with some fierce pole-dancing moves, FKA Twigs lept from kinetic music video extra to among the most electric of electronic pop acts with her debut?LP1?five years ago. On?Magdalene, her long-brewing followup, she moves to the next level, making music that resists being pinned by genre — or even as merely music, so integral is choreography, filmmaking, and photography to what she does. Few current artists (Beyoncé and?Bjork?come to mind) have made the visual feel so organically integral to their sound.

對比頂著一頭圓蓬式秀發(fā)的未來主義者、能跳熱辣的鋼管舞的Kate Bush，F(xiàn)KA Twigs（小枝）也從拍攝動感音樂錄影帶的舞者，到五年前發(fā)行首張專輯《LP1》，成為了電子味最濃的電子流行歌手之一。在她醞釀已久的后續(xù)作品《Magdalene(抹大拉的瑪利亞)》中，她邁上了新的臺階，創(chuàng)作出了反流派束縛的音樂——甚至說同她的音樂一樣，她的編舞、制片和攝影都已早已渾然一體。現(xiàn)在很少有藝術家(能想到的有Beyoncé和Bjork)把視覺效果和他們的聲音有機地融合在一起。

That’s not to say?Magdalene?comes up short musically; the sound’s kaleidoscopic. The multi-tracked vocals of “Thousand Eyes” begin like medieval music, Hildegard Von Bingen floating over sub-bass menace, a song about a separation that, rather than leaving the singer lonely, leaves her in a frightening crowd of people, or personas. “Home With You” is a whispered piano-ballad rap with a shout out to the album’s Biblical namesake, plus a sneered observation that you’ve “never seen a hero like me in a sci-fi.” On “Sad Day,” she spins an earworm melody with her avine soprano and high-tea phrasing over murky beat-fractals. The psychedelic r&b of “Holy Terrain ft. Future” is a creative pile-on also shaped by Jack Antonoff, Skrillex, Sounwave, and Les Mystére des Voix Bulgares, the Bulgarian choral group, who get looped into a haunting sort of trap pygmy-chant. It takes nothing from the originality of Twigs’ work that the latter echoes Kate Bush, ditto the lyrical nods elsewhere to?“Running Up The Hill”?and?“This Woman’s Work,”?gestures that by now should be equated to architects referencing gothic doorways or rappers paraphrasing Biggie — an artform’s foundational bedrock. Ditto for the whiff of?Radiohead’s?“Pyramid Song”?in the meditative opening piano chords of “Fallen Alien,” which shifts in and out of a cacophony of grime beats, a see-saw of EDM and distressed chamber music.

但這并不是說《Magdalene》的音樂性不足，她的音樂簡直就像個萬花筒。作為專輯開場曲，“Thousand Eyes”中，多聲道演唱給人一種中世紀音樂之感，正如Hildegard Von Bingen（德國早期女音樂家，1098-1179）之音在超低音給人的恐怖感中飄過，這是一首關于分離的歌曲，歌手在音樂中未感到孤獨，而是置身于一群可怕的形形色色的人群中?！?strong>Home With You”是一首低聲說唱的鋼琴伴奏抒情曲，但在歌曲中她也嘶吼著唱到了專輯同名的圣經(jīng)人物（Magdalene/抹大拉的瑪利亞），并附有一句諷刺性評論，說著你“never seen a hero like me in a sci-fi/從未在科幻電影中見過像我這樣的英雄”。在“Sad Day”中，她用風格獨特的女高音和英腔措辭在其陰郁的緊湊節(jié)奏上粉飾出一段悅耳的旋律。與說唱歌手Future合作的迷幻R&B歌曲“Holy Terrain”是由Jack Antonoff、Skrillex、Sounwave和保加利亞合唱團Les Mystere des Voix Bulgares共同塑造而成的創(chuàng)意結合之作，他們沉醉于一種駭人的trap風格中，頗像一支歌頌弱小群體的圣歌。后面幾首歌盡管與Kate Bush的歌曲遙相呼應，但都不失小枝的歌曲原創(chuàng)性，與Kate的“Running Up The Hill”和“This Woman’s Work”這等抒情曲有異曲同工之妙，到目前為止，這樣的借鑒就好比建筑師采用哥特式的門廊般，或者等同于說唱歌手們采樣Biggie（聲名狼藉先生，饒舌歌手，1972-1997）般——他們都屬于一種藝術形式的基石。另外，我們也能在小枝的“Fallen Alien”里那冥想式開頭的鋼琴和弦中找到電臺司令的“Pyramid Song”的蹤影。

Twigs’ lyrics conjure struggle, which one imagines she’s had plenty of recently, between major surgery and a public breakup with paparazzi–magnet Robert Pattinson. But like UK peer?Charli XCX, she has the artistic support of a smartly-curated collaborative team. On?LP1?it was?Arca,?Sampha, Emile Haynie and Devonté Hynes. Here it’s Nicolás Jaar,?Benny Blanco, Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never), and Lewis Roberts (Koreless), among others. But the music runs counter to mainstream pop groupthink, and for all the digitalia,?Magdalene?sounds like the messy, eccentric product of human hands, not algorithms. You can see those hands in?the video for “Cellophane,”?hoisting the artist up a pole, where she moves through backslides, chopsticks, ballerina spins and butterflies like it ain’t no thing — although like her album, it sure as heck is.

小枝的歌詞能讓人聯(lián)想到她近年來經(jīng)歷的多次苦難掙扎，從（打敗子宮肌瘤的）一場大手術到與狗仔們常年緊跟著的Robert Pattinson公開分手等等。但她與英國另一歌手Charli XCX一樣，她們都能得到一個技術精湛的協(xié)作團隊的藝術支持。在《LP1》中，就有Arca, Sampha, Emile Haynie和Devonte Hynes參與。這次的專輯有Nicolas Jaar、Benny Blanco、Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never)和Lewis Roberts (Koreless)等人加盟。但這種音樂思路與主流的流行音樂人思維背道而馳，而且不管你在什么數(shù)碼產(chǎn)品上聽，《Magdalene》聽起來都像是用雙手亂搞一通的怪異產(chǎn)物，而非循規(guī)蹈矩的作品。你可以在“Cellophane”的音樂錄影帶中“看到這些制作者的手”（看到他們的制作方式和想法），她高攀于一根鋼管，做著下滑、筷子、旋轉、蝴蝶等動作（鋼管舞中的動作及技巧名稱），仿佛這對她來說是小菜一碟——這確實就像她制作出這張專輯一樣，slay慘！