搬運自：網(wǎng)易云音樂專欄【Music Online Zine Courier】（在原文基礎(chǔ)上添加了英語原文與排版調(diào)整）

翻譯：Beans_Beans?

The go-to collaborator for some of pop’s favorite heroines struggles from having his cake and eating it too.

作為當(dāng)今流行音樂界最受歡迎的藝術(shù)家們的首選合作者，在享受分得屬于他的蛋糕的同時顯然也掙扎其中。

For a certain kind of pop fan, it has been very difficult to avoid Jack Antonoff in 2021. In March, the songwriter and producer was a wide-eyed player in Taylor Swift’s woodsy Grammys performance and took home an award for his work on the star’s 2020 record folklore. Then came Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club and St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home, both featuring Antonoff’s studio handiwork. He helped Clairo conjure Harry Nilsson vibes on her sophomore album and got beachy with Lorde for her upcoming Solar Power. He’s even there when he’s not: in early July, Antonoff, Swift, and St. Vincent—all “Cruel Summer” co-writers—received retroactive credits on Olivia Rodrigo’s hit “deja vu.” To top it off, Antonoff has been promoting Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, the new album from his glorified Springsteen tribute project, Bleachers, complete with a skronking Tonight Show set. But the moment that made me hiss “enough!” under my breath came with the announcement that he had worked on Diana Ross’ surprise comeback record, Thank You. The guy who once literally brought his childhood bedroom on tour as a badge of underdog status has now collaborated with the most iconic diva of all time.

對于絕大部分流行樂迷來說，2021年貌似已經(jīng)很難再與 ?Jack Antonoff 撇開關(guān)系了。今年3月，這位詞曲作者和制作人在 Taylor Swift 一場身處叢林的格萊美表演中大放異彩，并因其在 Taylor 2020年發(fā)行的專輯《folklore》中的杰出貢獻(xiàn)而拿下獎項。隨即發(fā)行的 Lana Del Rey 的《Chemtrails Over the Country Club》和 St. Vincent 的《Daddy’s Home》，都出自 Antonoff 之手。在這之后他幫助 Clairo 在她的第二張專輯中營造出類似 Harry Nilsson 的奇妙意境，并與 Lorde 一起為她即將發(fā)行的《Solar Power》賦予了熱情洋溢的海灘風(fēng)情。即使他并未參與，他的身影依舊存在：7月初，Antonoff, Swift 以及 St. Vincent——Swift 19年作品 “Cruel Summer” 的所有主創(chuàng)——被追加為樂壇新星 Olivia Rodrigo 的熱門歌曲 “deja vu” 的創(chuàng)作人。除此之外，Antonoff 還一直在宣傳《Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night》——這張他以 Bleachers 這一個人項目的名義向 Bruce Springsteen 致敬的新專輯，并在 Tonight Show 上為先行單曲做了精彩的演出。但是在這之后，讓我暗暗嘶吼“夠了！”的最后一根稻草是他宣布將作為 Diana Ross 的驚喜回歸專輯《Thank You》的制作人之一。這個曾經(jīng)把他的童年臥室?guī)У窖不匮莩鲋械男⊥该鳎缃衲芘c有史以來最具代表性的樂壇天后合作了。?

In the mid-to-late 2010s, Antonoff’s initial production style—ecstatic ’80s revivalism full of sparkling synths, massive drums, and big ol’ choruses—similarly felt like it was everywhere, though he was technically working less. As a songwriter, he was the guy you called to help capture big feelings, like the electrifying thrill of a budding romance, squiggly dancefloor euphoria haunted by a looming comedown, or a longing so seismic that it gives the San Andreas fault line a run for its money. But lately, many of Antonoff’s regulars have moved away from maximalism in favor of more subdued, insular tunes. Maybe it’s a logical progression or simply a sign of the times: When COVID-19 brought the music industry to a standstill, Swift used the time to craft two intimate, spiritually woodsy records, while Clairo literally retreated to the mountains for her modest-sounding Sling; both approaches led to more organic production styles. Lorde’s recent singles, “Solar Power” and “Stoned at the Nail Salon,” aim for “sexy, playful, feral, and free” (her words) but seem natural to the point of sanded down and lacking some idiosyncratic sparkle; the melodies on “Stoned at the Nail Salon” remind some of recent Lana Del Rey ballads, a woman’s voice against a backdrop of barely-there guitars that eventually bloom into expansive choruses.

在2010年代中后期，Antonoff 最初的制作風(fēng)格——以晶瑩閃爍的合成器、搭配轟鳴的鼓和抓耳的副歌為代表的八十年代復(fù)古興潮——感覺無處不在，盡管在技術(shù)層面他并未為此付諸多少艱辛。作為一個詞曲作家，他便是那個被稱為“幫助捕捉關(guān)鍵情感”的人，比如一段剛剛萌芽的浪漫帶來的電光火石般的激情、被臨近崩潰的情愫所煩擾而奔涌在舞池中的快感，或是一種強(qiáng)烈到足以讓圣安德烈亞斯斷層都為之震顫的渴望。但最近，Antonoff 的許多老友已經(jīng)不再追求極致主義，轉(zhuǎn)而青睞更為低調(diào)、柔和，更閉塞的曲調(diào)。也許這是一個合乎邏輯的進(jìn)程，或是作為一個時代標(biāo)志：當(dāng) COVID-19 使音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)停滯不前時，Swift 利用這段時間制作了兩張雙生、充斥著僅存在于叢林深處靈性的專輯；而 Clairo 則真的退居山林，創(chuàng)造了她那溫和感人的《Sling》，這兩支途徑都通向了更加有機(jī)的制作風(fēng)格。Lorde 的最新單曲 “Solar Power” 和 “Stoned at the Nail Salon”，旨在“性感、俏皮、野性和自由”（本人原話）中尋求閃光點，但似乎自然到了刻意為之的地步，而缺少了她獨有的特異；“Stoned at the Nail Salon” 的旋律讓人想起近來 Lana Del Rey 筆下的民謠，女聲在隱約的吉他背景下，最終綻放出激情洋溢的副歌。

Antonoff’s perceived grip over the introspective pop girlies has given birth to many memes at this point—the one that jokingly asks if he produced Joni Mitchell’s opus Blue is evidence enough for how often he is working on a certain type of album. Even Courtney Love got in on the action, reposting a meme that likened Antonoff to a shopper browsing for new ideas on comically empty shelves. The creeping sentiment online about our favorite pop stars’ favorite producer is that he’s annoyingly, inescapably, maddeningly…. Everywhere. And that, as the designated steward of Tasteful Pop, maybe his omnipresence has flattened the sound of that niche between mainstream pop and indie music.

Antonoff 被認(rèn)為掌控了那些內(nèi)省的流行女孩們的音樂創(chuàng)作，在這一點上已經(jīng)產(chǎn)生了許多?！踔劣腥碎_玩笑地問他是否制作了 Joni Mitchell 的大作 “Blue”，這足以證明他多么頻繁地在制作某一類型的專輯。甚至 Courtney Love 也參與進(jìn)來——她轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)了其中之一，把 Antonoff 比作一個在空空如也的貨架上選購新想法的小丑。關(guān)于這一我們最喜歡的流行歌星們最喜歡的制作人，網(wǎng)上流傳著這樣一種看法：他令人討厭、卻無從避免、令人惱火……無處不在。而且，他作為“有品位的流行音樂”的代表，也許他的無所不在已經(jīng)使主流流行音樂和獨立音樂之間的那個界限漸漸磨平。

It’s possible that Antonoff’s constant presence feels especially irksome because of our own aspirational wants for the music industry—wouldn’t it be nice if some of the great female songwriters of our time were produced by women as well? Fans are right to wonder why there aren’t more female producers working in the highest echelons of pop and indie music, though it isn’t a particularly new concern. A USC Annenberg study on inclusion in the music industry found that in 2020, out of 198 producers credited on the Hot 100 year-end chart, only 4 were women. Since the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical was established in 1974, less than 10 women have been nominated. No woman has ever won. Clearly, the problem of representation in music is much bigger than Jack Antonoff—but considering him in this context is especially interesting given his tendency to work with critically significant artists who have written deeply personal albums about love and identity alongside him.

Antonoff 的不斷出現(xiàn)讓人不爽，可能是出于我們自己對音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)的渴望——如果我們這個時代的一些偉大的女性詞曲作者也由女性制作人操刀制作，那不也很好嗎？歌迷們有充足的理由懷疑為什么沒有更多的女性制作人在流行音樂和獨立音樂的第一梯隊工作，盡管這一論題早已是陳年舊話并不新穎。南加州大學(xué)安納伯格分校(USC Annenberg)的一項關(guān)于音樂行業(yè)包容性的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，2020年在，Hot 100年終排行榜上的198位制作人中，僅有4位是女性。自格萊美于1974年設(shè)立年度最佳制作人獎（非古典領(lǐng)域）以來，只有不到10名女性被提名，而更是從來沒有女性制作人獲獎。顯然，音樂行業(yè)中這一代表性問題比 Jack Antonoff 所引起的嚴(yán)重的多——但鑒于他傾向于與極具重要意義的藝術(shù)家合作，而這些藝術(shù)家又愿意與他一同書寫關(guān)于愛情和自我認(rèn)同等立意深刻的個人專輯，因而在這一節(jié)點考慮他便顯得格外有趣。

Antonoff likes to remind people that he was not always the guy sought out by the stars. After years spent bouncing from punk to indie rock to Grammy-winning pop, his first really big songwriting/production credits arrived on Taylor Swift’s 2014 record 1989; “Out of the Woods,” in particular, established Antonoff’s early stylistic trademarks. Landing a handful of songs with the biggest singer-songwriter on Earth was pivotal for a guy who was best known as a member of the pop-rock band fun. or perhaps, as Lena Dunham’s boyfriend. “Before Taylor, everyone said: ‘You’re not a producer,’” Antonoff later told the New York Times. “It took Taylor Swift to say: ‘I like the way this sounds.’” It turned out that other artists liked it, too. After a handful of one-offs with pop stars like Troye Sivan, Grimes, and Sia, he embarked on his first full-length collaboration, Lorde’s sterling 2017 record Melodrama. If working with Swift helped him gain an identity beyond “guy in an impossible-to-Google band,” Antonoff’s work on Melodrama made him a headline-worthy name.

Antonoff 總喜歡提醒人們說他并不總是那個被明星們尋找的人。在從朋克到獨立搖滾，再到能獲得格萊美獎的流行音樂中輾轉(zhuǎn)顛簸了多年之后，他的第一首真正重要的詞曲創(chuàng)作作品出現(xiàn)在 Taylor Swift 2014年的唱片《1989》中；尤其是 “Out of the Woods”，確立了 Antonoff 早期的標(biāo)志性合成器風(fēng)格。對于一個以流行搖滾樂隊 fun 的成員而聞名的人來說，與全球最著名的歌手/作曲家聯(lián)合創(chuàng)作幾首歌乃是他創(chuàng)作生涯中至關(guān)重要的一個節(jié)點，而不僅是作為 Lena Dunham 的男朋友?！霸?Taylor 之前，每個人都你說：‘你并不是一個制作人’，” Antonoff 后來告訴《紐約時報》?！岸?Taylor Swift 會說：‘我喜歡這樣的聲音’”。而事實證明，其他藝術(shù)家也喜歡它。在與 Troye Sivan、Grimes 和 Sia 等流行明星進(jìn)行了簡短的一次性合作后，他著手進(jìn)行了他的首次全長合作——Lorde 在2017年發(fā)行的精彩專輯《Melodrama》。如果說與 Swift 的合作幫助他獲得了超越“不可能 Google 到的樂隊中的家伙”的身份，那么 Antonoff 在《Melodrama》中的出色表現(xiàn)使 “Jack Antonoff” 成為一個值得樂壇注目的名字。

2017 turned out to be a huge year for him. With the release of Melodrama, St. Vincent’s Masseducation, Swift’s Reputation, and his second Bleachers album, Antonoff’s public profile skyrocketed. His eagerness to be an open book stood in stark contrast to Swift, who was largely radio silent that year, and St. Vincent, who held court in a wooden box with pre-recorded responses to formulaic questions. (Lorde’s interviews that year were charmingly normal.) The myth of the genius is gendered, and even the most well-meaning white man casts a long shadow when placed on a pedestal. So it should come to no surprise that the narrative surrounding Antonoff has sometimes resulted in the erasure or depreciation of his female collaborators, subconsciously or otherwise. “He’s still writing Jack Antonoff songs—they just happen to be sung by people like Lorde now,” touted GQ in 2018, to which Lorde responded (and later deleted), “Knew there was a way to describe the personal and skilful [sic] work that i do turns out it’s ‘singing jack antonoff songs’.”

2017年對他來說是極為重要的一年。隨著《Melodrama》、St. Vincent 的《Masseducation》、Swift 的《Reputation》以及他的個人項目 Bleachers 二專的發(fā)行，Antonoff 的公眾形象直線攀升。他愈發(fā)渴望?曝光度，這與 Swift 和 St. Vincent 形成了鮮明對比，前者在那一年基本在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和電臺隱身，而 St. Vincent 則屈尊于一個木箱里，事先對公式化的問題錄制了回答。(那一年 Lorde照常接受采訪。）天才們的傳奇是有性別區(qū)分的，即使是最具善意的男性白人，在被置于神壇上時也會投下長長的陰影。也因而圍繞 Antonoff 的敘述評論有時會致使他的女性合作者被漠視或貶低，無論是無心為之還是其他，這一點都不奇怪。2018年《GQ》雜志無腦吹捧道：“他還在寫屬于 Jack Antonoff 的歌——只不過恰巧被 Lorde 這樣的人唱了?！盠orde 對此回應(yīng)道（后來刪除了）：“我知道有種方式來描述我所創(chuàng)作的獨具個人風(fēng)格、技巧嫻熟的作品，最后發(fā)現(xiàn)那就是‘唱 Jack Antonoff 的歌’?！?/p>

Lately, this mode of thought has done a 180°: When an artist’s fans find a shift in sound underwhelming, they love to blame Antonoff. Every one of Antonoff’s more recent collaborations has come with a fresh wave of tweets that accuse him of imposing “his sound”—essentially, nostalgic guitars and string arrangements, swelling choruses—on his female collaborators. Sure, maybe the songs are not all that exciting—“Solar Power” needs a stronger hook, St. Vincent’s “The Melting of the Sun” is bloodless—but the remarks also tend to feed into the age-old stereotype that women artists have no agency over their work. If we won’t let Antonoff take sole responsibility for their successes, why should he be given ownership of their lukewarm musical departures, too? Let ladies have their flops!

最近，這種思維模式發(fā)生了180度的轉(zhuǎn)變。當(dāng)一個藝術(shù)家的樂迷發(fā)現(xiàn)這一聲音的轉(zhuǎn)變讓人深感乏味時，他們更傾向于指責(zé) Antonoff。Antonoff 最近的每一次合作都尾隨著一波推特浪潮，指責(zé)他把“自己的音樂”——基本上就是復(fù)古風(fēng)的吉他、弦樂編曲、抓耳的副歌——強(qiáng)加給他的女性合作者們。當(dāng)然，也許這些歌曲也確實并不那么激動人心——“Solar Power” 顯然需要一個更有力的 hook；St. Vincent 的 “The Melting of the Sun” 也顯得蒼白無力——但這些言論也傾向于迎合一種古早的刻板印象——女性藝術(shù)家對其作品沒有控制權(quán)。如果我們不讓 Antonoff 對她們的成功負(fù)全責(zé)，那為何又要讓他對她們不溫不火的音樂負(fù)責(zé)？還不如就讓那些女士們糊穿地心吧!

Besides, these interpretations misunderstand Antonoff’s priorities as a producer and songwriter. Since he tends to be an album guy these days, he’s usually involved and invested in the entirety of a project rather than one piece of the puzzle. In interviews over the years, he has reinforced the notion that emotional vulnerability, instead of a signature sound, is the cornerstone of his work. As Antonoff tells it, recording sessions seem to resemble a more symbiotic version of psychotherapy: “When I work with other people, I’m always trying to find out: Where can we go even further?” he once told Pitchfork. “In the second verse, can you fire out a few lines about something that happened to you when you were 9?”

此外，這些說法誤解了 Antonoff 作為一個制作人和作曲家的這一前提。由于他現(xiàn)在傾向于做專輯，他通常參與致力于一整個項目，而不是其中的某一部分。在這些年的采訪中，他已經(jīng)加強(qiáng)了這樣一個概念——情感的易損性才是他作品的基石，而非一個標(biāo)志性的制作風(fēng)格。正如 Antonoff 所說，這些專輯似乎更像一種共生版的心理治療?！爱?dāng)我和其他人合作時，我總是試圖找出我們能在哪里走得更遠(yuǎn)？”他曾在 Pitchfork 舉例道：“在第二小節(jié)，你能不能說說你 9 歲時發(fā)生的事兒？”

It’s not surprising that this method would build trust and a consistent working relationship. Antonoff’s collaborators have universally positive things to say about him: St. Vincent called him “the best teammate you could want… he’s 100 percent a cheerleader”; the Chicks’ Martie Maguire described him as an easy confidant for the close-knit trio; Lorde said they can communicate “almost telepathically” and that songwriting can feel “l(fā)ike actual alchemy.” In an industry rife with creeps, positive creative relationships like these are indisputably invaluable. If musicians want to work with Antonoff instead of the Dr. Lukes of the world, can you really blame them???

這種方法會逐步建立起基于信任且穩(wěn)定長遠(yuǎn)的工作關(guān)系，這不足為奇。Antonoff 的合作者們對他的評價普遍是正面積極的：St. Vincent 稱他是“你所能想到的最好的隊友……他百分之百是啦啦隊長”；南方小雞樂隊的 Martie Maguire 形容他是這一親密三人組的藍(lán)顏知己；Lorde 曾說他倆幾乎可以“心靈感應(yīng)”，寫歌感覺就像“真正的煉金術(shù)”一般奇妙。在這個充斥著利益熏心的小人的行業(yè)中，擁有如此積極的創(chuàng)作關(guān)系是無價的——如果音樂家們想與 Antonoff 而非那個臭名昭著的 Dr. Lukes 合作，你又如何能責(zé)怪她們呢？

But maybe all the irritation surrounding Antonoff has less to do with underwhelming songs but his public persona. The man has a real Dan Humphrey aura about him, and can’t go a single interview without mentioning how growing up across the river from Manhattan made him insecure, despite the fact that he attended a prestigious performing arts high school next to Central Park. He talks of idolizing the Boss, and then releases an album that’s borderline Springsteen cosplay—cheesy and cliché at best, and musical manspreading at worst. And isn’t it strange that the past two Bleachers albums have arrived roughly two weeks before that of Lorde’s? While I have no reason to doubt the genuine care behind his approach to songcraft, there’s something icky about aggressively presenting yourself as a man empathetic to women’s emotions. Thank you, we get it! Given the headlines about how he does not want to merely take up space, he has traveled through pop with extreme Main Character Energy. It’s not entirely his fault, he just can’t help it.

?但也許所有圍繞 Antonoff 的憤懣都與他平平無奇的歌曲無關(guān)，而與他的公眾形象有關(guān)。這個人身上有一種真·Dan Humphrey 光環(huán)，每次采訪他都會提到在曼哈頓河對岸長大如何使他缺乏安全感，盡管他最終是在中央公園旁邊的著名藝術(shù)高中上學(xué)。他也總談到對大能的崇拜，然后發(fā)行了一張不起眼的cosplay Bruce Springsteen的專輯——往好了說是接地氣和陳詞濫調(diào)，往壞了說是音樂領(lǐng)域的賣老式“大爺占座”。而且，過去兩張 Bleachers 的專輯總比 Lorde 的專輯提早發(fā)行兩個星期左右，這不奇怪嗎？雖然我沒有理由懷疑他在歌曲創(chuàng)作方法背后真正的意所指，但奮力地把自己表現(xiàn)為一個對女性情感有同理心的男人，還是有些令人不適。多虧了你（Diana Ross《Thank You》），我們也意識到了！考慮到他不僅僅是想占用頭條新聞，他如今已經(jīng)帶著極端的主角光環(huán)縱橫于流行音樂界。這也不全是他的錯，他就是忍不住。