告別小破團 美渣首發專輯 Rebel debut

A year ago, British singer Zayn Malik announced on Facebook that he would be leaving the British boy band One Direction.

一年前，英國歌手澤恩•馬利克在自己的臉書主頁上宣佈，自己將退出英國男子組合單向樂隊（小破團）。

“I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight,” he wrote. But it turns out, h e is now more in the spotlight than ever.

他寫道：“我選擇離開是因爲我想過一個正常的22歲，可以放鬆下來，遠離聚光燈，享有一些私人空間”。但結果恰恰相反，如今的他比以往任何時候都更引人關注。

Newspaper headlines have chronicled his evolution from band member to pop music rebel. First there was the public spat with producer Naughty Boy, then his split with his British pop star fiancé Perrie Edwards. Now, he’s getting attention for his relationship with 20-year-old US model and reality TV star Gigi Hadid.

報紙頭條記錄了他從樂隊成員逐漸轉變爲流行音樂逆反者的全過程。他先是和知名製作人淘氣男孩公開罵戰，接着又與自己的未婚妻、英國流行歌手佩裏•愛德華茲分道揚鑣。現在，因爲和20歲的美國模特、真人秀明星吉吉•哈迪德的戀情，美渣又成了大衆關注的焦點。

But what’s more impressive is that he was able to sign a solo deal with RCA Records. Compared to his music career as a boy band member, Malik has achieved just as much – if not more– success as a solo singer. He released his debut album, Mind of Mine, on March 25. It sold over 9,000 copies in one day, outselling Adele by almost 3-1, reported Daily Star. Though Malik’s sales are expected to slow as the week goes on, while Adele’s daily numbers are holding steady, that’s still a big deal.

但最引人關注的是美渣能夠和RCA唱片公司單獨簽約了。同以前作爲男子組合成員之一的音樂生涯相比，現在的他轉型成了的獨唱歌手，而且甚至比組合時期更成功。3月25日，美渣發佈了自己的首張個人專輯《我的心靈》。據英國《每日星報》報道，新專輯發佈一天（實體）銷量就突破了9000張，約爲阿黛爾的專輯首日銷量的三倍。儘管有人預測美渣專輯的銷量會後勁不足，而阿黛爾的專輯日銷量則一直居高不下，不過這個成績依舊十分可觀。

The media has been praising his music too. The Atlantic deemed Mind of Mine “the pinnacle of the current sad-dude pop moment”. But for Malik himself, the debut album means more than just continued fame. Having a solo record allowed Malik to explore his interests in R&B music, whereas previously he’d been limited to the pop/rock he performed with One Direction.

媒體也爲他的音樂點贊。美國《大西洋月刊》評價《我的心靈》爲“流行音樂的傷感巔峯”。但對美渣自己而言，首張專輯不僅僅意味着持續走紅。發行個人專輯讓他有機會探索自己在藍調音樂上的興趣，而在小破團裏，他的曲風被限制在流行和搖滾音樂裏。

Even in his earliest days as a musician, Malik loved R&B. Many of his fans still remember when Malik appeared as a contestant on the reality TV show, The X-Factor. He auditioned with the song Let Me Love You, an R&B hit by Mario.

剛出道的時候，美渣就十分熱愛藍調。許多粉絲至今還對他在電視真人秀節目《X音素》中的表現記憶猶新。他在參加海選時演唱的是馬里奧的熱門藍調歌曲《讓我愛你》。

In an interview with The Fader magazine last year, he also revealed that he struggled not to do R&B in One Direction. “If I would sing a hook or a verse slightly R&B, or slightly myself, it would always be recorded 50 times until there was a straight version that was pop,” he said.

去年在接受《調節器》雜誌採訪時，美渣就透露過自己掙扎着抗拒在小破團唱藍調。他說，“如果我唱的歌中有一段或主歌部分略帶藍調風格或者我自己的風格的副歌，這首歌將會被反覆錄製50遍，直到整首歌只有一種風格，那就是流行。”

For Malik, successful music is a reflection of the artist’s true spirit. So far, that commitment to authenticity has earned him the respect of some major music critics, including The Guardian’s Michael Cragg.

對美渣來說，成功的音樂是反映歌手真情實感的。如今，美渣的自我堅持爲他贏得了不少知名音樂評論家的尊重，其中包括來自英國《衛報》的邁克爾•克拉格。

“The lasting impression of Mind of Mine... is of someone finally making the music they’ve wanted to make for a long time. That the sound he’s chosen... is basically 2016 writ large may seem bandwagon-jumping, but there’s more than enough good stuff here to suggest it’s been created with love rather than with an eye on ticking boxes,” said Cragg.

邁克爾•克拉格說：“《我的心靈》始終給我的印象是：這是一個歌手終於做了自己一直想做的音樂。他選擇的音樂很可能會在2016年大熱，不過裏面有很多很棒的元素，它們表明這張專輯是出於熱愛而不是（爲了迎合受衆）勾選排除而生。”