過去的11周,美國煙鬼電音團隊,一個由26歲的安德魯•塔格特和31歲的亞歷克斯•鮑爾組成的DJ組合,憑借《Closer》登頂公告牌 Hot 100單曲榜單,并刷新了2016單曲上榜時長。
But that isn’t enough to describe the DJ duo’s wild *ascent this year–Closer is their third top 10 single of the year and they headlined major festivals, including Southern California’s Coachella and EDC in Las Vegas.
但這還不足以形容他們今年的瘋狂上升?!禖loser》是他們今年第三首沖進前十名的單曲,并引領了諸多重要節(jié)日,包括南加州的科切拉音樂節(jié)和拉斯維加斯的EDC電子音樂節(jié)。
The way they got there says a lot about what young fans want right now, and how the boundaries between the roles of producer and pop star are more flexible.
他們的成功表明了現在的年輕粉絲想要什么,以及制作人和流行歌手兩個身份之間的轉換更加靈活。
They first drew attention by posting online remixes of indie rock songs, before scoring a viral hit in 2013 with the single #Selfie. To call that track a “novelty hit”–its *sarcastic lyrics mock women in nightclubs taking self-portraits–would be among the kinder things said about the song, but it did earn them a huge audience, even if few expected them to keep it.
在2013年單曲《Selfie》 以高分引爆狂熱之前,他們最先通過發(fā)布在線混音獨立搖滾歌曲博得關注。 歌曲以頗具嘲諷的歌詞嘲笑女人在夜店自拍,好的評價稱其為“新奇的熱歌”。但它確實為他們贏得了眾多聽眾,雖然幾乎沒人期望他們繼續(xù)保持這樣的曲風。
Over the last year, the pair broadened their electronic dance music *palette to include softer, more *melancholy styles, even trying out more meaningful material. And crucially, it was a flexible enough genre to allow for a big range of collaborations, often with then-unknown top-line vocalists like the young singers Daya and Rozes.
過去的一年中,這個組合擴展了他們的電子舞曲,更加柔和,更多的憂郁曲風,甚至嘗試了更有意義的內容。更重要的是,他們的流派足夠靈活并允許大范圍的合作,通常與一些當下暫無名氣的頂級歌手,如年輕的歌手戴亞和羅澤斯。
Therapy sessions
治愈階段
Their new strategy peaked in 2016, when a string of singles, including Don’t Let Me Down and Roses, went Top 10 and multi-platinum. Suddenly, that eye-rolling DJ duo from a few years ago became one of the most influential acts in pop.
他們的新專輯在2016年再創(chuàng)新高,當時包括《不要讓我失望》和《玫瑰》在內的一系列的打單紛紛躋進前10并被收錄于多白金唱片。突然之間,幾年前遭人白眼的DJ組合搖身一變成了流行音樂中最具影響力的人物之一。
Only Justin Bieber and Drake have had more Top-10 singles this year.
今年只有賈斯汀•比伯和德雷克有更多單曲躋身前十。
“It definitely surprised us, because you never know the outcome,” Pall said. “You can’t write songs like ‘Is this going to be a hit?’ But people were looking for something more substantial, and our own songwriting tastes were always more in that *vein anyway. Our writing sessions became more like therapy.”
“這絕對讓我們感到意外,因為你永遠不知道結果,”鮑爾說道。 “寫歌的時候你不能想‘這會是一首熱歌嗎?’人們正在尋找內容更為豐富的東西,我們自己的創(chuàng)作風格正是本著這種精神。我們的創(chuàng)作過程更像是治療過程。”
They also helped set a new pattern for pop-crossover electronica, one similar to that of Bieber, Skrillex and Diplo’s hit Where Are U Now? That format prizes flexibility and moving on quickly to new styles and collaborations.
他們還幫助建立了一個新的流行交叉電子模式,類似于比伯,史奇雷克斯和Diplo的熱門歌曲《Where Are U Now?》。這種模式更具靈活性,且能夠迅速融入新的曲風與合作。
And now, producers like the Chainsmokers are just as often the “face” of the song, as the lead vocalist would have been just a few years ago.
現在,像煙鬼這樣的創(chuàng)作人通常是一首歌的“門面擔當”,就像幾年前的主唱一樣。
“There’s a cluster of artists right now like Chainsmokers, Calvin Harris, Zedd and Diplo that have figured this out,” said John Ivey, senior vice president of programming at iHeartMedia and program director for KIIS-FM in Los Angeles. “What are they? They’re singers, they’re producers, they’re mixers – they do everything. They have the flexibility to *crank stuff out and not be so protective of each song.”
iHeartMedia公司的編程高級副總裁、洛杉磯KIIS-FM項目總監(jiān)約翰艾維曾表示:“現在有一群藝術家正和煙鬼組合一樣,如加爾文•哈里斯、安東•斯拉夫斯基以及Diplo。他們是什么?他們是歌手,是制片人,也是混音師——他們什么都能做。他們可以很有彈性地的去制作音樂,而不是那樣保護每首歌曲。