搬運(yùn)自：微信公眾號(hào)【評(píng)論搬一堆】（在原文基礎(chǔ)上添加了英語(yǔ)原文與排版調(diào)整）

翻譯：Kai-Kaiyue

審譯：Lynn Liu

排版：Ryan-Chopin

The pop star attempts to be all things to all people, offering an overstimulating mix of sounds and a message of self-flagellation disguised as empowerment.

這位流行歌手嘗試做到面面俱到，她的新專里大咖云集，可謂是一場(chǎng)聽(tīng)覺(jué)盛宴，同時(shí)也向我們提供了偽裝成女權(quán)的自我鞭策的信息。

Meghan Trainor’s latest album,?Treat Myself, includes the tapping sound of a coconut opener used as an instrument, the word “genetics” spelled out in a chant, and a children’s choir. It does not include the?song?“Treat Myself,” a jangly slew of saccharine self-indulgence released in a blitz of singles that preceded the album. For that, you’ll have to buy the extended version, available only at Target.

Meghan Trainor的最新專輯，《Treat Myself（善待自己）》中，有將椰子開(kāi)瓶器作為樂(lè)器的擊打聲，有拼寫單詞“genetics”的反復(fù)吟唱還有童聲合唱。專輯并不包含“Treat Myself（善待自己）”這首歌，這首甜到發(fā)膩關(guān)于自我放縱的單曲先于專輯發(fā)布，且僅在Target上可購(gòu)買。

Treat Myself?was originally scheduled for release back in August 2018, but Trainor pushed it back because she couldn’t stop writing songs, vowing not to release it “until I get everything out of my head and recorded in the studio.” The result is an album that tries to be all things to all people, a sonic overload that bludgeons the listener with bastardized “empowerment” for 15 songs.?Treat Myself?is clogged with oozing ballads, contaminated funk, and garish shudders of EDM. The closest thing to a mission statement is “Babygirl,” a glitchy, throbbing wail whose chorus goes “Love yourself! Love yourself! Love yourself! Love yourself! AHHH!”

這張專輯原定于2018年八月發(fā)布，但是Trainor的靈感源源不斷，她發(fā)誓直到腦中的所有東西都寫出來(lái)并在工作室錄制完才可以發(fā)行。結(jié)果就是這張嘗試讓所有人滿意的專輯，包含了15首讓聽(tīng)眾被迫接受的女權(quán)觀點(diǎn)。這張專輯中包含抒情，放克還有花哨的EDM。最接近主題的一首歌是“Babygirl”，副歌間斷的唱出“Love yourself! Love yourself! Love yourself! Love yourself! AHHH!（善待自己！善待自己！善待自己?。?/p>

If you ask Meghan Trainor,?she might say?she makes feel-good songs, anthems for boss-bitches-in-training who yearn to “have it all,” as she croons. But in Trainor’s world, having it all tends to center around male approval. She catapulted to fame in 2014 with “All About That Bass,” a catchy-enough jingle assuring the masses that men do, in fact, like butts. Feminists condemned the song for its not-so-subtle messaging (your body is acceptable, but only because men want to Fuck it), and Trainor later announced that?she didn’t consider herself a feminist—a sentiment she doubled down on with followup single “Dear Future Husband,” which painted a housewife fantasy in which marital happiness hinges on the wife buying groceries. (Two years later, with a new album to promote,?she changed her mind.)

如果去問(wèn)Meghan Trainor，她會(huì)說(shuō)每首歌都非常令人愉悅，這些歌都是為了那些渴望擁有一切的人而作。但是在她的世界中，擁有一切的基準(zhǔn)是傾向于得到男性的認(rèn)可。2014年，她因“All About That Bass”這首歌一炮而紅，這首朗朗上口的歌曲向大眾傳遞出的信息是：事實(shí)上男人都喜歡豐滿的女人。女權(quán)主義者們指責(zé)這首歌中透露出的明顯的態(tài)度（只有男人認(rèn)可的身材才是好的），但之后Trainor宣稱她并不是一個(gè)女權(quán)主義者，在她隨后發(fā)行的單曲“Dear Future Husband”還加強(qiáng)了這一觀點(diǎn)。這首歌描繪出一個(gè)家庭主婦的幻想就是婚姻的幸福來(lái)自于妻子采購(gòu)。（兩年后，在她新發(fā)行的專輯里，她的想法改變了。）

Much of?Treat Myself?relies on the idea of female duplicity; instead of dismantling the trope, Trainor’s lyrics capitulate to it. “I’m crazy but I’m sweet,” she warbles on “Blink.” “Evil Twin” is more explicit: an apology from Trainor for the “crazy bitch” side of her, which makes her “make my bad decisions, but I’m innocent.” Where Lizzo and other pop stars who capitalize on the commodification of female empowerment have embraced the unruly, unlikable woman—“100% that bitch, even when I’m crying, crazy”—Trainor is left constantly placating: for hesitating to take a compliment, for daring to get drunk, for being both too much and too little. This is self-flagellation disguised as motivation, a Peloton instructor prompting you to pedal faster until you hurl.

《Treat Myself》這張專輯很多觀點(diǎn)都來(lái)自于女性的雙重性。比起運(yùn)用比喻手法，她的歌詞非常直白?！癇link”這首歌中寫道“I’m crazy but I’m sweet（我瘋狂但也甜蜜）”?！癊vil Twin”是一首更為直白的道歉：她邪惡瘋狂的一面使她“make my bad decisions, but I’m innocent（雖然我做錯(cuò)一堆事，但我很冤）”。當(dāng)Lizzo和其他流行歌手利用女權(quán)的商業(yè)化，去展現(xiàn)女性不羈難以接近的一面時(shí)，正如歌詞“100% that bitch, even when I’m crying, crazy（我100%是狠角。即使我哭態(tài)瘋狂）”所唱，Trainor則繼續(xù)扮演著柔弱的一面：不敢得到贊揚(yáng)，不敢喝醉，不論多或少。這種偽裝成動(dòng)力的自我鞭策就像是Peloton的教練一直催促你蹬踏板直到你吐了為止。

Confusing production choices make the album even more exhausting. “Nice to Meet Ya”, the most tolerable track, is engineered to be a banger, with tingling drums and a mediocre Nicki Minaj verse, but its whisper of a chorus is harsh and irritating. “Wave” starts off with panoramic piano and titanic vocals before a gaudy EDM pulse kicks in, turning it into something like a Cascada remix for a middle school dance in a sweaty gym. Trainor relies on ostentatious background vocals throughout, which oscillate between gospel-inflected harmonies and cartoonish carols. (She’s said they were inspired by visits to Kanye West’s Sunday Services.) Droning “dum dum dum”s grate against bass drops; choruses droop under the weight of so many voices. “I miss the way we used to funk,” Trainor chirps over “Disney on Ice”–meets–disco beats, in “Funk,” a song so charmed by its ability to substitute “Fuck” for “funk” that it repeats the sentence six times in the first twenty seconds.

The oddest moment on the album is the song “Genetics,” which seems designed to provoke controversy. “How you get that bod? Is it from God?” Trainor trills alongside The Pussycat Dolls, then spells out the titular word like a cheerleader for eugenics. It’s especially jarring after a string of songs about how earnestly Trainor is working to improve herself (including “Workin’ on It,” a muted song that seems genuinely well-intentioned). You want to root for her throughout the record, hearing her croon about lost love and never being asked to dance; you want her to love herself for something other than the sake of attracting someone. Aiming to uplift women is an obvious good. But maybe true empowerment means we can demand more from those who claim to speak for us.

令人迷惑的歌曲選擇讓這張專輯的聽(tīng)眾很疲憊。“Nice to Meet Ya”是其中最能接受的一首。強(qiáng)烈的鼓點(diǎn)和Nicki Minaj的部分讓這首歌有了一點(diǎn)爆點(diǎn)，但是副歌的口哨聲刺耳令人惱火。“Wave（海浪）”這首歌的前奏都是鋼琴，強(qiáng)烈的聲樂(lè)在一個(gè)停頓之后引入了花哨的EDM。這首歌就好像是Cascada在充滿汗臭的體育館為了中學(xué)的舞蹈混音一樣。Trainor貫穿全曲夸張的背景音在福音曲調(diào)和聲與卡通頌歌之間搖擺。（她說(shuō)靈感來(lái)自于Kanye West的演唱會(huì)Sunday Services）?！癉um Dum Dum”的嗡嗡聲與低音貝斯相互摩擦，副歌被如此多的音效蓋住。在“I miss the way we used to funk”這首歌中，她將迪士尼冰上嘉年華和迪斯科的節(jié)奏融入放克中，這首歌吸引人的地方就在于用funk代替了Fuck。這句歌詞在前二十秒內(nèi)重復(fù)了六次。

最奇怪的歌曲是專輯中的“Genetics”，這首歌好像是為了引發(fā)爭(zhēng)議而作?！癏ow you get that bod? Is it from God?（你的身材為何如此完美？是上天的賞賜么？）”伴隨著The Pussycat Dolls的聲音，Trainor就像是優(yōu)學(xué)生的啦啦隊(duì)長(zhǎng)一樣拼寫出了這個(gè)單詞。尤其是在一連串都是關(guān)于Trainor認(rèn)真努力提高自己的歌曲中（包括“Workin’ on It”這一首看似包含善意卻表意不明確的歌曲）這首歌顯得格格不入。聽(tīng)眾想要通過(guò)這張專輯支持她，聽(tīng)她失戀和從未被邀請(qǐng)共舞的故事；想要讓她不因去為了得到別人的關(guān)注這個(gè)原因去愛(ài)自己。鼓勵(lì)女性固然是好的，但是真正的女權(quán)可能意味這我們可以要求那些為我們發(fā)聲的人做到更多。