【Pitchfork翻译】Magdalena Bay - A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling EP

Pitchfork评分：7.5 原作者： Ashley Bardhan 原文链接：https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-a-little-rhythm-and-a-wicked-feeling-ep/

（本文通过Bing翻译，有部分修改）

Magdalena Bay take pity on bubblegum. From their L.A. apartment, bandmates Mica Tenenbaum and Matt Lewin create the kind of pop songs that, at first pass, appear destined for radios and stadium tours the world over. As influences, they cite not only Gwen Stefani and Britney Spears, but celebrity pop songwriter Julia Michaels and the elaborate, pop-inspired production of Grimes’ Art Angels. Over the past three years, they’ve released a string of EPs and singles that embrace the bratty, shimmery sound of ’00s pop radio hits. On their latest EP, A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling, the band’s DIY approach culminates in their most confident project to date, a sensitive sort of bombastic pop that wants you to be sensitive, too.

Magdalena Bay同情泡泡糖流行乐。乐队成员Mica Tenenbaum和Matt Lewin在他们的洛杉矶的公寓里创作出那种流行歌曲，在第一次聆听时会觉得这些歌曲似乎注定要在世界各地进行电台和体育场巡回演出。关于影响，他们不仅引用了Gwen Stefani和Britney Spears，还引用了流行乐作曲网红Julia Michaels和Grimes的Art Angels专辑中精致、受流行乐影响的制作。在过去的三年里，他们发布了一系列EP和单曲，拥抱了00年代流行电台金曲里傲慢、闪闪发光的声音。在他们最新的EP，A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling里，乐队的DIY方法在他们最有自信的作品里达到顶峰，一种敏感的喧闹流行，目的是希望你也可以变得敏感。

As bass-heavy as Charli XCX and as melodically minded as Carly Rae Jepsen, these songs are not unlike the hyperactive computer pop popularized by PC Music. What sets Magdalena Bay apart is the gentleness of their lyrics and spacious, mood-building production. “Airplane,” the EP’s balmiest moment, is about the pressure of the rat race: the craving for a hectic work week, the urge to “[bend] over backwards” as your “heart breaks.” Tenenbaum tries to detach, reassuring herself that “I’m breathing, I’m feeding my soul.” Such a sincere, thoughtful sentiment seems almost misplaced against the song’s irreverent synth fireworks, but the result is endearingly camp—the playful, theatrical sensibility that serves as a vehicle for genuine sensitivity. In the words of Susan Sontag, “Camp is a tender feeling.”

和Charli XCX 一样注重贝斯，和Carly Rae Jepsen一样注重旋律，这些歌曲并不和因PC Music而火的超活跃电脑流行乐有所不同。使Magdalena Bay与众不同的是他们的歌词中的温柔和宽敞的、以情绪为基础的的制作。Airplane，作为EP里最和煦的时刻，是关于竞争的压力：对忙碌工作一周的渴望，当你的"心碎"时渴望"向后弯腰"的冲动。Tenenbaum试图分离，来安慰自己“我在呼吸，我在滋养我的灵魂”。这种真诚、体贴的情感似乎几乎与歌曲里无礼的合成器烟火产生错位，但结果是可爱地坎普——俏皮，戏剧性的感性来运载着真诚的敏感性。用Susan Sontag的话来说，“坎普是一种温柔的感觉”。

Of course, the duo’s source material is more ostentatious: Their favorite eras of ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s pop were defined by incandescent production and ridiculously earnest style choices. Magdalena Bay’s self-conscious, homegrown approach is less interested in imitating bubblegum pop than pushing the limits of its meaning. “How to Get Physical” calls back to Olivia Newton-John’s legendary ’80s banger, which Dua Lipa also mined for her recent single “Physical.” But where those songs demanded that we “get physical,” Tenenbaum is more coy, wondering “how to get physical when you’re not made for dancing.” The track itself is sugary and ecstatic, like diving into a vat of fruit punch—you can hear the liquid sloshing as she sings about “cheap wine taking over me.” It’s that pairing of campiness with attention to detail that prevents these songs from sounding like flat emulations of No Doubt circa 2002.

当然，二人组的素材要更夸张：他们最喜欢的80年代，90年代和00年代的流行时代是由白炽般的制作和可笑地认真的风格选择来定义的。Magdalena Bay的自我意识的、本土化的方法对模仿泡泡糖流行不太有兴趣，而对推动其意义的范围更有兴趣。How to Get Physical让人回想起Olivia Newton-John传奇的80年代热单，同时也被Dua Lipa挖掘到了她最近的单曲Physical里。但是在我们“变得强壮”而需要这些歌曲的地方，Tenenbaum更委婉，猜想“当你不适合跳舞的时候如何变得强壮”。曲目本身是甜美和欣喜若狂的，就像跳进一缸水果酒——当她唱着"便宜的葡萄酒使我上头”的时候你能听见液体在喷溅。正是坎普与注重细节的配对，来防止这些歌曲听起来像是2002年左右的No Doubt的无趣模拟。

A Little Rhythm’s slick vocal hooks, glimmering synths, and final crescendos are the same tools Top 40 pop writers use to craft a hit—and the same conceits PC Music and its ilk aim to subvert—but here they’re used to different effect. “I feel your breathing in my bedroom when I’m by myself,” Tenenbaum murmurs on “Oh Hell,” against a backdrop of hovering synth and sticky 808 kicks. The lazy tempo, glittery flourishes, and washed-out, doubled vocals aren’t the stuff of mainstream radio. Magdalena Bay aren’t performing a simple genre flip, or attempting to appeal to the masses; they’re building something personal and seeing how big it can get. Rather than obscuring emotion, their manufactured sound invokes its own kind of nostalgic joy. A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling is a reminder that exaggeration or artificiality don’t have to mean soullessness; pop music is supposed to be a loud, flashy monument to earnest, embarrassing emotion. Listen to it shamelessly, euphorically, with love in your heart.

A Little Rhythm光滑的声乐、闪闪发光的合成器、和最终的逐渐加强也是Top 40流行榜作曲家用来制作热单的手段——也是PC Music和它的同类们打算颠覆的想法——但在这里它们提供不一样的效果。“当我一个人的时候，我感觉到你在卧室里的呼吸，”Tenenbaum在Oh Hell里喃喃地说，背景是盘旋的合成器和粘粘的808 kicks。懒洋洋的节奏，华丽的盛开，褪色的、加倍的人声不是主流电台的东西。 Magdalena Bay不是在表演一个简单的类型乐片段，或试图吸引大众；他们正在建造一些私人的东西，看看它能变得多么大。他们制造的声音不是掩盖情感，而是唤起它自己的怀旧喜悦。A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling提醒我们，夸张或人为并不意味着没有灵魂；流行音乐应该是一个响亮、华丽的纪念碑来表达认真、尴尬的情感。抛弃羞耻感地、愉悦地听这张EP，心中充满爱。