（搬运+翻译）Album Review by Pitchfork on Troye Sivan's Bloom
The Australian singer’s second album exudes a chic kind of vulnerability. It is a warm and delicate pop album about life as a young gay man. I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that Troye Sivan gets it. The Australian YouTuber-turned-pop star has all the qualifications you’d look for in a modern-day gay icon—a devoted army of long-time fans, elfin features, celebrities and designers on speed dial—and the good sense to recognize how meaningless and outmoded that kind of title is. “I just don’t represent everybody, because I’m extraordinarily lucky,” Sivan told British style magazine Another Man in May. “I come from a middle-class white family in Australia, and all of my dreams have come true by 22. I had the easiest coming out in the world… There are plenty of other people who need to be heard first.”
这位澳大利亚歌手的第二张专辑带着一种别致的脆弱感。它是一张关于一位年轻gay生活的流专（流行专辑），温热又易碎。我乐意冒点险，去说Troye Sivan的确如此（如下所说）。这位来自澳洲，从YouTuber转型为流行明星的男孩，拥有所有你能够想象出来的那些标签：时尚都市gay icon、有一帮长时间拥簇他的死忠粉、精灵般的形象、名流与设计师争相合作的对象，甚至他会让你觉得去识别那些标签是无意义的，是过时的。“我并不能代表所有人，我只是异常地幸运而已”，五月接受英伦杂志Another Man采访时，他如是说。“我出身于澳洲的中产阶级家庭，我所有的梦在22岁之前就实现了。我有着世界上最轻松的出柜经历。但这个世界还有很多像我那样的人，这些人更需要被倾听。”
Give him an opportunity, and he’ll happily rattle off the names of other musicians at the vanguard of queer representation: Sam Smith, Halsey, Kehlani, Perfume Genius, Kevin Abstract, Hayley Kiyoko. He invited Kim Petras on tour as an opening act and deftly handled the ensuing backlash over her work with Dr. Luke, making donations to. His humility would feel performative and cynical if it weren’t so thorough.Blink and you might forget why Sivan is holding court on these topics in the first place: He’s an evolutionary artist, one whose existence and career is the product of decades of baby steps and boundary-pushing. Being gay is an integral and visible part of Sivan’s art, just as much as his voice or his choice of collaborators. Bloom, Sivan’s second studio album, is best described in terms you rarely see associated with male pop stars: delicacy, transparency, and vulnerability. He sings about experiences that are commonplace for young gay men in 2018 but feel totally transgressive in a broader pop context. He wrote opener “Seventeen” about sneaking onto Grindr with a fake ID and hooking up with older men, and the title track captures bottoming for the first time in all of its agonyand ecstasy.
如果给他一个机会，让他说出其他先驱的酷儿音乐人的名字，他会很乐意并不假思索地背出他们来：骚姆（Sam Smith）,猴西（Halsey）, Kehlani（R&B女歌手）, Perfume Genius（独立音乐人，有人说戳爷是pop的他，大家快听他的No Shape）, Kevin Abstract（说唱歌手）, Hayley Kiyoko（歌手兼演员）。他请到了Kim Petras（德国变性歌手）作为暖场的嘉宾，同时宣布把演唱会的一部分资金捐给the Ally Coalition （世界最大的自杀预防组织）和 RAINN（美国最大的性暴力预防组织），以此巧妙安抚人们（对请Kim Petras来当演唱会嘉宾这件事）强烈的不满情绪。因为Kim 之前与Dr. Luke（伯乐制作人，被Kesha指控强奸）有合作过，（Kim曾经发文支持Dr. Luke）。如果他没有足够真诚，就很有可能让人怀疑这是在做戏。 眨眼的片刻，你可能就忘记了为什么Sivan一开始就能在这些话题上吸引人们的注意：他是一位创新的艺人。他的存在和事业让社会文化几十年间不断突破，并且有了初步尝试的成果。Gay已经成了Sivan艺术中不可或缺、清晰可见的一部分，这从他的歌声或者是他对合作对象的选择上，便可见一斑。Bloom，Sivan的第二张录音室专辑，它完美展现了那些特质，那些你不能从其他男性流行明星看得到的特质——精致易碎、透明感。他歌里唱着，年轻gay当下的平凡生活，但在庞大流行文化的背景下，这看起来却像是一种越轨行为。专辑的第一首歌“Seventeen”里，他悄悄在Grindr（同性交友约会软件）用假的名字注册了一个账号，在里面邂逅了一个老男人。然后在同名单曲“bloom”里，Sivan得到了他，并由此尝到了极乐与痛苦并存的欢愉。
The subject matter draws headlines, but it’s less revelatory than what’s between the lines. You can feel the power dynamics underpinning each of these songs shifting in unpredictable ways. Sivan starts both “Seventeen” and “Bloom” in a playful mood, teasing his partner, flirting, issuing commands. He’s an object of desire, and that puts him in control. “I got these beliefs that I think you wanna break,” he taunts on “Seventeen.” “Got something here to lose that I think you wanna take from me.” Just a few seconds later, he’s lost his footing: the older man he’s sought out for a virgin fling might not be so easy to manipulate in the heat of the moment The “Bloom” pre-chorus is a nervous whimper—“I need you to tell me right before it goes down/Promise me you’ll hold my hand if I get scared now”—just before Sivan relaxes and enjoys the ride.
选材决定了标题，但（“Bloom”）这个标题缺少对歌里的故事线串联作用。你能感受到其中强有力的动感，曲目之间的切换，总会给你带来意想不到的惊喜。“Seventeen” 和“Bloom”这两首歌里，Sivan略带调皮，去挑逗、去调情、去要求他的情人。他有很强的主观意识，所以他想去占有。“你想打破我那些坚持的东西”他在“Seventeen”里嘲笑般地唱着。“把我想摆脱的带走，这是你想要的”。短短几秒钟后，他便马失前蹄：在那个炙热的夜晚里，他寻找的，想为他丢掉童贞的那个男人，其实并不是那么容易掌控。 “Bloom”的pre-chorus（主歌到副歌中间那一段）有着一段焦灼的耳语，“我需要你告诉我结束之前要如何做/向我保证如果我现在惊慌失措，你会牵着我的手”—这些出现在Sivan放下包袱并享受其中之前。
There’s a remarkable amount of tension in those moments, and Bloom would feel exhausting if every song was built around those kinds of formative experiences. It also offers less complicated pleasures, songs that are simpler yet still breathtakingly tender. Sivan is comfortable with desperation. He knows how it can feel like life and death hinge on scheduling a second date or sending a postcard. Lead single “My My My!” feels euphoric because of the interplay between its growled verses and pulse-pounding chorus; it feels uniquely Sivan’s because of the stakes. He’s found a guy who makes him feel like he’ll “die every night,” and when he reaches the bridge, he dares to dream of a life spent that satisfied. (He calls his lover a “treasure” and inhales sharply through clenched teeth, and it feels like the most consequential breath he’s ever taken.) Sivan also has a knack for gorgeous, concise imagery. On “Plum,” a relationship that’s nearing its end is “like bitter tangerine/like sirens in the streets.” He wants to “skip stones on [the] skin” of a boy who tastes like Lucky Strikes.
在些许的片段里，歌里传达着恰到好处的紧张感。但如果Bloom里面所有歌都基于这样的经历（都是这样紧张的情绪）的话，那么整张专辑听下来，会让人疲惫不堪。所以专辑还有一些歌，它们没有那么复杂的情绪，虽然简洁，但还是那么地温柔，动人心弦。Sivan习惯了绝望。他知道绝望是怎样的，这像是生与死可以拴在第二次约会的计划，或者是寄一张明信片这样简单事情上面那样。主打歌“My My My!”让人情绪高涨，低声咆哮的主歌，让人血脉偾张的副歌，得益于此，它是那样独一无二，专属于Sivan。他碰到了让他每晚欲生欲死的男人（die every night）。到了bridge部分，他更是大胆地幻想着醉生梦死的生活。（他把他的爱人称为 “宝物（treasure）”，咬紧牙关，用力吮吸，这就像是他不可或缺的呼吸）。他总是能写出绝妙、简练的意象。 “Plum”，到了这段关系结束时，“像苦涩的柑橘/像街上的警报”他想在那个男孩“肌肤上留下痕迹”，那个有着好彩香烟（Lucky Strikes）味道的男孩。
Bloom’s fragility makes for an interesting contrast with its surprisingly conservative sound. Sivan largely works with the same team and palette that defined his 2015 debut Blue Neighborhood: mid-tempo, richly hued post-Lorde pop. And while there are some welcome flourishes from unexpected sources—Ariel Rechtshaid and cult fave Jam City add celestial sparkle to regretful ballad “The Good Side,” and massive closer “Animal” swerves from a menacing rumble (courtesy of Rechtshaid, Jam City, and the Haxan Cloak) to a bridge clearly inspired by Frank Ocean’s Blonde—too much of Bloom congeals into a tasteful, muted lump. Beyond “My My My!” and the title track, its melodies and arrangements lack the urgency that defines its writing.
Bloom所表现出的脆弱感和它意外保守的制作形成了一个有意思的对比。Sivan花了很大的力气去制作这张专辑，他用了2015年处女专Blue Neighborhood时期相同的团队，相同的调音——中速调音、带有浓厚的后Lorde时期的流行乐色调。专辑还有许多受欢迎的花样，这得益于意想不到的元素的运用。在“The Good Side”，这首致歉情歌里，Ariel Rechtshaid 、Jam City两人融进了如繁星般闪烁的音符。宏大的结束曲“Animal”，从压迫的嗡嗡声铺展开，到bridge逐渐清晰明亮（源于Rechtshaid, Jam City, the Haxan Cloak三人对Frank Ocean的 Blonde专辑的致敬）。这些元素融合，造就了Bloom，别致柔美的整体。但除了 “My My My!”、“Bloom”这两首歌外，其他歌不管是旋律还是编曲，都不够紧凑。
You can draw an interesting comparison between Sivan and his friend and collaborator Ariana Grande. They duet on “Dance to This,” an understated celebration of the pleasures of domesticity: Why go out on the town when you could stay in and have a party for two? Sivan and Grande have both made albums about how love and sex can make you feel: safe, secure, and joyous in one moment, nervous but thrilled in the next. Bloom isn’t as consistent or engaging a musical experience as Sweetener, but it still feels meaningful. If Sivan is the product of baby steps, then maybe this is one of his: bonding with one of the planet’s biggest pop stars over quiet moments with the men they love, with absolutely nothing to hide. The 22-year-old Australian singer Troye Sivan wears the mantle ofoutspoken gay pop stardomwith preternatural grace.
你可以把Sivan和他的朋友兼合作人Ariana Grande进行一个有趣的比较。他们的合作曲“Dance to This”中，几笔就勾勒出愉悦的家庭生活：为什么要出去，而不是待在家里，享受只有你我的派对呢？Sivan 和 Grande两人都有相似主题的专辑，爱与性——上一秒它们还让你感到安全、愉悦，下一秒它们就会变得紧张刺激。Bloom不能做到像Sweetener那样有着统一音乐体验，但它仍有意义。Sivan是社会文化前进一小步体现，想象一下，这个星球上最大牌的流行歌手，他和男人相爱，不用去掩饰什么，而大众对此并没有议论纷纷。这位年仅22岁的澳洲歌手，Troye Sivan，散发出不寻常的优雅，披着同性恋明星群体的披风，为他们发声。
