搬運(yùn)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：Whitney.L

校正：Alexander.Z/Ryan-Chopin

After years of searching, Ariana Grande has found her true voice.?Sweetener?is an exemplary pop album, radiating with low-key joy and newfound love.

經(jīng)過幾年的探索后，A妹找到了屬于她自己的風(fēng)格?！秙weetener》（甜味劑）稱得上典型的流行唱片，這一唱片流露出了她平淡的喜悅和對新戀情的憧憬。

Ariana Grande’s journey from child star to “human cupcake” to heir apparent to the diva throne has been centered around discovering the song that defines her. Though her soprano is instantly recognizable—floating from sultry melismas to whistle singing, elocution be damned—locating?her?in the hits has been difficult at times. Her last two albums, 2014’s?My Everything?and 2016’s?Dangerous Woman, were solid but musically scattershot, filled with trendy guests and weighed down by her bad-girl alter-ego. For Grande to ascend to the next creative level, she’d need more than just the range.

? ? A妹從童星一路發(fā)展到“蛋糕人設(shè)”（應(yīng)該是說A妹像蛋糕一樣甜），再到成為登上天后寶座的繼承人，這一路的攀登，使她尋找到自己獨(dú)特風(fēng)格的音樂。盡管她的女高音--不管是性感的裝飾音還是哨音，都一聽便知，但是她的發(fā)音不盡人意，使得我們很難在她的歌中準(zhǔn)確找到她的風(fēng)格。她于2014年發(fā)行的《My Everything》和2016年發(fā)行的《Dangerous Woman》中，歌曲基礎(chǔ)很扎實(shí)，但整體性不強(qiáng)，合作過許多流行的音樂人，也成功把自己塑造成了一個壞女孩的化身。但是，如果A妹想踏上更高的創(chuàng)作臺階，她需要比現(xiàn)在突破更多。

Sweetener, Grande’s first album since the?2017 bombing?at her Manchester concert, feels more honest and distinct than any of her past work. Perhaps because tragedy has a way of revealing our true selves, the 25-year-old star finally allows herself to just take things as they come. She doesn’t force the heart-wrenching emotion of it all into tearful ballads and message-heavy anthems, but instead lets the low-key joy of the title track radiate across the album. The best parts of?Sweetener?have her looking for hope and stumbling upon the glow of new love. By the time you reach the interlude about her comedian fiancé Pete Davidson called “pete davidson,” where the word “happy” is repeated 22 times in just over a minute, whatever cynical snapshot of their quickie engagement that may have formed between?That Lollipop Photo?and reports of?Big Dick Energy?has fallen away. Let the yung diva love in peace.

? ? 2017年曼徹斯特演唱會爆炸的悲劇發(fā)生以來，《sweetener》是A妹復(fù)出后的的第一張專輯，它比以往的作品更顯獨(dú)特與真誠?？赡苁且?yàn)檫@場悲劇，這位25歲的歌手更加主動的去揭示真實(shí)的自己。她并沒有強(qiáng)行把這痛徹心扉的情感付諸于令人淚流滿面的民謠或者是沉痛的頌歌中，而是使她的專輯主打歌成為擁有平淡喜悅的歌曲?！秙weetener》中最好的那部分表現(xiàn)了A妹尋找希望，邂逅并沐浴于新歡光芒的過程。當(dāng)你順著曲單聽到他的現(xiàn)任男友，喜劇演員，“Pete davidson”這首歌的時候，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)，在短短一分鐘內(nèi)，“happy”這個詞被重復(fù)了22次。不管是“棒棒糖閃照”，還是“男友之力”的消息，還是夾雜于其中那迅速訂婚的消息，都讓他們煙消云散吧，不如讓這對年輕情侶平靜地相愛吧。

Grande co-wrote more songs than usual (10 out of 15) and formed a clear bond with?Pharrell, who serves as a songwriter and producer across?Sweetener’s stronger half. His funk-lite idiosyncrasies set a bright tone and help elevate the record’s more conventional song structures. Grande and Williams leave themselves plenty of room to play around with texture in clever ways, particularly when it comes to layered vocals and skittering percussion. Set to little more than panting, tongue clicks, and keyboard orbs, “R.E.M” finds novel ways for Grande to expand her vocal repertoire. Singing in a stream of consciousness style about the man in her dreams, she flows in and out of R&B crooning, doo-wop vocal runs, gospel harmonizing, cheeky sing-talking, and a surprisingly precise rap flow (“‘Scuse me, um? I love you/I know that’s not the way to start a conversation, trouble”). She doesn’t even need a money note to stamp her mark.

?A妹和平時相比，參與創(chuàng)作了更多的歌曲（15首歌中有10首參與創(chuàng)作）并且與菲董形成了一種明確的合作關(guān)系，菲董成為《sweetener》這張專輯的創(chuàng)作和歌曲制作的有力后盾。他的funk-lite式的音樂特色為這張專輯設(shè)立了明亮的音調(diào)，并且創(chuàng)建了更為經(jīng)典的音樂模式。A妹和菲董為自己留下充足的空間，用聰明的方式去擺弄音質(zhì)，其中，最特別是利用多層次的人聲和輕快簡潔的打擊樂。除了喘息聲，咬舌聲，和鍵盤敲擊聲，歌曲“R.E.M”為A妹提供了更加新穎的方式去拓展她的音域。她用一連串的意識流方式唱出她夢中的男人，她用R&B的方式低聲吟唱，還有doo-wop式（經(jīng)常由4~5人組成重唱小組，由一人擔(dān)任領(lǐng)唱，其他人以密集和聲作伴唱）唱腔流轉(zhuǎn)，福音式的和聲演唱，毫不羞澀的娓娓道來，和令人驚奇的精確的rap流暢度（“對不起，嗯？我愛你/我知道這并不是談話的方式，這是一種麻煩”）。A妹的音樂印記，已達(dá)到掙脫物質(zhì)性鎖鏈的程度。

The non-Pharrell tracks come courtesy of past Grande collaborators like Max Martin, ILYA, and TB Hits, and largely tap into the ongoing trap influence on the Top 40. Not one of them is outright filler, but an ode to a toxic ex like “everytime” is markedly less original—the kind of bad-decision-making set to ominous thumping that’s all over the charts. Grande’s got her own new rules, though: She tweaks the daydreaming of Imogen Heap into the throbbing EDM twinkle of “goodnight n go” and turns the?melancholy of Drake?into a meditation on anxiety with “breathin.” Neither is a direct extension of her work with Williams, but both feel like natural fits on an album all about finding the light.

?一些像Max Martin，ILYA，和TB Hits等的其他合作制作人，制作的歌曲很大程度上都是B榜上前四十的熱門曲目風(fēng)格。其中沒有一個是完全的filler（垃圾）曲，但是像“everytime”這首頌歌式的音樂明顯不那么跟隨潮流，并且歌里沒有那種統(tǒng)治著整個榜單的煩躁的“砰砰聲”。A妹有她自己的新套路：她將Imogen Heap的“白日夢”轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)殚W爍著EDM光芒的作品--“goodnight n go”，并且將德雷克式多愁善感轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)槟鼙磉_(dá)出在焦慮中沉思的歌曲--“breathin.”這兩首歌都不是與菲董一起直接創(chuàng)作的，但是這兩首歌都自然適用于在專輯中，表達(dá)著尋找光明。

Grande may have delivered more of a full-album vibe than a bangers-filled juggernaut, but there is at least one career-defining moment here—the song she has been looking for, wrapped in an unassuming package.?Sweetener?ends with “get well soon,” the sort of freeform, self-help soul ballad you’d maybe expect to round out a Beyoncé opus. Anyone who knows how gracefully Grande handled the horrific events at her Manchester show last year will recognize an equally graceful response to her own emotional aftermath in this song. Channeling all the conflicting voices in her head, Grande sings striking downbeat counter-melodies of “girl what’s wrong witchu come back down.” She soothes herself with her own luscious harmonies, urges fans to take care of one another, and modestly assures that anyone can work their way to the top. Like much of?Sweetener, the song is musically sparse but encompasses a kaleidoscope of vocal tones. It is here, four albums in, that the true multitudes of her voice, and by extension herself, blossom.

? A妹要傳達(dá)的是一種完整的專輯氛圍，而不是爆炸性、摧毀性的力量，但是在這張專輯中至少有一個足以定義她職業(yè)生涯的時刻，也是她一直追尋的歌曲風(fēng)格，仿佛裝在一個隱秘的包裹中?！秙weetener》以“get well soon”為結(jié)尾，這是一種可以媲美碧昂斯作品般探尋自由與自我救贖精神的抒情歌。大家都知道A妹從容地處理了去年曼徹斯特演唱會發(fā)生的恐怖事件，她同樣在她的歌曲中從容地回復(fù)了她自己的情感余波。當(dāng)她腦中響起各種不和諧的聲音時，A妹便唱起那朗朗上口的旋律，“girl what’s wrong witchu come back down.”她用甜美的和聲寬慰自己，敦促粉絲互相照顧，并且適當(dāng)?shù)馗嬖V人們，任何人都可以到達(dá)任何自己想要企及的頂峰?！秙weetener》中的很多歌音樂結(jié)構(gòu)比較散，但是卻包含著如萬花筒般的各式聲調(diào)。

????是的，我們從這四張專輯中聽到了屬于Ariana Grande那許許多多真實(shí)的聲音，以及她不斷的自我提升與萬丈光芒。