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：Tyler Smith

校對(duì)：Ryan-Chopin

排版：Ryan-Chopin

The latest One Directioner to go his own way tackles big themes, but the music is filled with the kind of dead-eyed vocal delivery and lazy drumming, strumming, and writing that all pop stars fear.

單向樂(lè)隊(duì)又一成員發(fā)布了個(gè)人專(zhuān)輯，歌里充滿(mǎn)了空洞的聲音表現(xiàn)力和懶散的鼓點(diǎn)，流行歌手們都避之不及的東西全展現(xiàn)在了這張專(zhuān)輯里。?

The years following?One Direction’s dissolution have reshaped Louis Tomlinson. More than just rich-people problems, his life has tumbled into real tragedies and triumphs, like the death of both?his mother?and 18-year-old?sister, as well as the birth of his?son. Of course, now he wants to tear down his barriers and emerge fresh, raw, and newly sensitive, like the many references to roadblocks and changing on his debut album?Walls?suggest. Something isn’t right, though. The heart he so desperately wants to present is missing.

在單向樂(lè)隊(duì)解散后的幾年里，Louis Tomlinson的形象得到了重塑。他的生活也陷入了的真實(shí)的悲劇和歡樂(lè)中，這不僅僅是富人才有的問(wèn)題，比如他母親和18歲的姐姐去世，以及兒子的出生。當(dāng)然，現(xiàn)在他想打破桎梏，重獲新生、再次獲得藝術(shù)靈感，就像他首張專(zhuān)輯《Walls（墻）》中提到的許多障礙和變化一樣。不過(guò)，有些事情不對(duì)勁。他如此渴望呈現(xiàn)的真心卻已經(jīng)不見(jiàn)了。

Unfortunately,?Walls?is just as maddeningly uninteresting as its slate grey, cuffed-light-wash-jeans album cover suggests. The appropriately named album opener “Kill My Mind” is a feeble attempt to create stadium pop-rock, droning on with faux bad-boy guitar while Tomlinson limply delivers, “You’re a nightmare on the dancefloor/And you hate me, and I want more.” “Too Young” is an explicit introduction to the album’s running preoccupation with youth; like many of?Walls’ folkier moments, the song is flat coffee-shop music. “Habit” features this same mood but adds in sleepy drumming. “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart” subtracts the drumming and adds in wistful vocal layering, reminding us that “l(fā)ife gets hard and it gets messed up.” Brian Eno had?Music for Airports;?this is?Music for Your John Mayer Cover Band.

不幸的是，《Walls（墻）》這張專(zhuān)輯就像真正“墻”上的石板灰，也正如褲腳口卷起的褪色牛仔褲專(zhuān)輯封面所暗示的那樣超級(jí)乏味。取名不錯(cuò)的專(zhuān)輯開(kāi)場(chǎng)曲“Kill My Mind”這一嘗試很無(wú)力，這首歌本想要制作成一首與假冒壞男孩般吉他合作的舞臺(tái)流行搖滾，而Tomlinson的歌聲卻拖了后腿，“You’re a nightmare on the dancefloor/And you hate me, and I want more.（你是一個(gè)舞池的噩夢(mèng)/你恨我，而我想要更多。）”?！癟oo Young”明確表明了專(zhuān)輯的重點(diǎn)來(lái)到了對(duì)年輕一代的關(guān)注；就像《Walls》的許多流行歌曲一樣，這首歌也只是純咖啡店的音樂(lè)?！癏abit”的特點(diǎn)也是如此，但增加了令人昏昏欲睡的鼓聲。“Don’t Let It Break Your Heart”減去了鼓聲，加入了傷感的多層次人聲伴奏，提醒我們“l(fā)ife gets hard and it gets messed up（生活變得艱難，變得一團(tuán)糟）” 。Brian Eno有為緩解候機(jī)乘客緊張焦慮情緒的《Ambient1：Music For Airports》；而這張專(zhuān)輯就像是John Mayer樂(lè)隊(duì)創(chuàng)作的翻唱作品。

When I was in high school, I owned a limited edition Harry Styles doll and read tawdry fanfiction about our favorite Frankenstein, Mr.?Larry Stylinson. This was how you engaged in the fandom of One Direction, and fans knew that every One Direction member had an archetype. Harry Styles was the heartbreaker, Zayn Malik the mysterious (read:?ethnic) one, Niall Horan the cute one, and Liam Payne was unlucky enough to receive the nickname “Daddy Directioner.” Tomlinson was the “sassy” one who couldn’t sing, which didn’t add up to much. Now on his own, Tomlinson is left with exactly what he is: someone who received massive success when flanked by other, more interesting people.?Walls?is filled with the kind of dead-eyed vocal delivery and lazy drumming, strumming, and writing that all pop stars fear. There is no attempt to scrape at the soul, to dig deep. The result is a depressing Xerox of people like Coldplay and Oasis, who managed to make soft Britpop with a little more charm and ingenuity.

我在上高中時(shí)，我擁有一個(gè)限量版的Harry Styles娃娃，那時(shí)我喜歡讀一些大家都喜歡的Mr. Larry Stylinson的(幾個(gè)樂(lè)隊(duì)成員的)cp小說(shuō)。這就是單向樂(lè)隊(duì)粉絲的追星方式，粉絲們知道每個(gè)樂(lè)隊(duì)的成員都有一個(gè)人設(shè)。Harry Styles是個(gè)芳心終結(jié)者，Zayn Malik是個(gè)神秘的人，Niall Horan是個(gè)可愛(ài)的人，Liam Payne很倒霉，被冠上了“Daddy Directioner”的綽號(hào)，Tomlinson是個(gè)不會(huì)唱歌的“時(shí)髦人”，這一點(diǎn)在團(tuán)隊(duì)中算不上什么。現(xiàn)在，Tomlinson一個(gè)人只剩下他自己了：一個(gè)在其他更有趣的人的支持下才獲得巨大成功的人。專(zhuān)輯里充滿(mǎn)了空洞的聲音表現(xiàn)力和懶散的鼓點(diǎn)，所有流行歌手都避之不及的東西在《Walls》中全展現(xiàn)了出來(lái)。音樂(lè)里沒(méi)有試圖去深度挖掘其音樂(lè)靈魂的痕跡。就像設(shè)法用魅力與匠心來(lái)制作軟英國(guó)流行的酷玩樂(lè)隊(duì)和綠洲樂(lè)隊(duì)，其音樂(lè)結(jié)果都只是一個(gè)令人失望的流水線復(fù)印品。

Tomlinson is best on “We Made It,” where his imitation begins to sound more like a sincere attempt at invention. The dreamy acoustic guitar sounds like the backdrop to the silliest, prettiest, slow-motion Instagram video of a sunset on the beach. Reminiscing about how he used to “share a single bed and tell each other what we dream about,” Tomlinson captures the essence of youth with one line. You can’t hear the stars in his eyes, but you know that they’re there. The rest of the album could have used this tenderness and lyrical specificity, but it’s mostly abandoned in favor of the pop conventions that Tomlinson pledges himself to, remembering how he used to sing “something pop-y on the same four chords/used to worry 'bout it but I don't no more.”

Tomlinson最成功的制作是“We Made It”，他的刻意模仿終于聽(tīng)起來(lái)像是一次真誠(chéng)的發(fā)明創(chuàng)作。輕柔的原聲吉他聽(tīng)起來(lái)就像是最夢(mèng)幻、最漂亮、慢動(dòng)作播放的Instagram海灘日落小視頻的背景音樂(lè)。Tomlinson回憶起他過(guò)去是如何“share a single bed and tell each other what we dream about（與對(duì)方共用一張床，告訴對(duì)方我們的夢(mèng)想） ，他用一句話抓住了青春的本質(zhì)。你聽(tīng)不到他眼中的星星，但你知道它們就在那里。這張專(zhuān)輯的其余部分本可以發(fā)揚(yáng)這種溫柔和抒情的閃光點(diǎn)，但卻再無(wú)蹤影，取而代之的是Tomlinson固執(zhí)的傳統(tǒng)流行思維，他只記得自己曾經(jīng)唱過(guò)的“同一個(gè)四和弦上的流行樂(lè)/曾經(jīng)擔(dān)心過(guò)，但我現(xiàn)在不再擔(dān)心了”

It’s difficult to tell whether Tomlinson is even trying to make music different from his time in One Direction. On “Fearless,” he constructs an entire chorus around the question, “Do you still remember feeling young?” like he can’t quite get himself to move on from the golden days. “Perfect Now” is basically a low-quality rewrite of One Direction’s “Little Things,” featuring galaxy-brain observations of an insecure lover like, “You say to me your jeans don’t fit/You don’t feel pretty and it’s hard to miss.” Tomlinson?himself?calls this song a “kind of” lyrical extension of “What Makes You Beautiful,” One Direction’s legendary breakout single. Try as he may, Tomlinson has not quite progressed from featured voice to solo artist. For all the major changes in his life, his music seems to be stuck in place. You can take the boy out of the boyband, but not the boyband out of the boy.

甚至很難說(shuō)Tomlinson是否在努力地制作與他在單向樂(lè)隊(duì)時(shí)期不一樣的音樂(lè)。在“Fearless”中，他整段副歌都圍繞著一個(gè)問(wèn)題：?“Do you still remember feeling young?” （你是否還記得感覺(jué)自己很年輕的時(shí)候？）就好像他并不能接受自己的黃金年華已逝的事實(shí)一樣。?“Perfect Now”基本上就是單向樂(lè)隊(duì)曾經(jīng)的單曲“Little Things”的低配版，里面是對(duì)一位不安的戀人的全面觀察：?“You say to me your jeans don’t fit/You don’t feel pretty and it’s hard to miss.（你對(duì)我說(shuō)你的牛仔褲不合身，你感覺(jué)自己不漂亮，這件事很難不被注意）” Tomlinson本人說(shuō)這首歌的歌詞是對(duì)?“What Makes You Beautiful”的“某種”延伸。雖然Tomlinson很努力地在嘗試，他還是沒(méi)能從一位合作型歌手成長(zhǎng)為solo藝術(shù)家。相比起他人生的種種變故，他的音樂(lè)仍在原地。單向樂(lè)隊(duì)可以沒(méi)有這個(gè)男孩，但這個(gè)男孩離不開(kāi)單向樂(lè)隊(duì)。