翻譯：Nomanlandever

After losing a member, one of K-pop’s most consistent and internationally appealing groups returns as a quartet for their fourth album. Casual listeners don’t need to be heavily invested in the K-pop world to?get?the appeal of f(x)’s music, and?4 Walls?is an enjoyable listen even for those not looking to broach the language gap.

在一名成員退團后，作為K-pop風格最統(tǒng)一且最具國際影響力的組合之一的f（x）以四人組的形式帶著她們的正規(guī)四輯回歸樂壇。不是資深的K-pop粉絲的普通聽眾也能陷入f（x）編織的音樂魅力中，而且即使是對于不想打破語言隔閡的聽眾來說，《4 Walls》也是一次非常愉悅的聆聽享受。

Over the last couple of years, f(x) have become one of the few K-pop groups with real international appeal and a sizable fan base in the States. The group's sophomore album, 2013’s?Pink Tape, was a pop collage of ambitious sounds and ideas that tinkered with K-pop formulas, and it still stands as one of the best records the genre has ever produced. Last year’s?Red Light offered a decidedly edgier synthpop sound that leaned more toward the club, though it didn’t quite meet the standard set by its predecessor. And during the promo for?Red Light, group member Sulli, an actress and star for the conglomerate S.M. Entertainment, was noticeably absent from scheduled media events. After talk of mental exhaustion and a temporary f(x) hiatus, Sulli officially withdrew from the group in August, leaving K-pop’s most consistent act in a state of flux.

在過去幾年里，f(x)已經(jīng)成為少數(shù)幾個真正具有國際影響力的K-pop組合之一，在美國擁有龐大的粉絲基礎(chǔ)。該組合2013年第二張專輯《Pink Tape》，是張布滿野心的音樂和創(chuàng)意且推動K-pop“套路音樂”發(fā)展的流行大雜燴專輯，仍是K-pop流派里最優(yōu)秀的專輯之一。去年發(fā)行的《Red Light》顯然是一種更新銳的合成流行音樂，更像夜店音樂風格靠攏，盡管沒有達到前作的高度，在《Red Light》的宣傳活動中，組合成員崔雪莉，SM娛樂集團的女演員和明星，顯然缺席了原定的媒體活動。在精神問題的流言蜚語下，崔雪莉在暫時的f(x)活動中斷后，在8月正式退出該組合，使這個K-pop樂壇中最穩(wěn)定的組合陷入動蕩狀態(tài)。

4 Walls?is f(x)'s fourth album and first with four members—hence the name—and it lands right where?Pink Tape?and?Red Light?intersect, creating a sleek electropop fun-house filled with an eclectic group of generation-spanning pop singles that fit together as a long-playing piece. It’s also the first K-pop comeback to fully acknowledge a lineup change—going as far as incorporating it into the album's marketing and lyrics—but it doesn't change much about the group’s sound. This is a superficial rebirth; though the album’s lead single and title track has veiled references to changing and becoming new, f(x)’s synthpop bounce remains steadfast and uncompromised. And though Sulli was undoubtedly a standout among the group, her departure allows others to grab the spotlight: Now, not only does rapper Amber have the opportunity to rap more, she also gets the chance to use her alto range to flesh out harmonies and bring greater balance to records like "Rude Love", an ambitious, hook-heavy tune that rivals the group's most infectious songs.

《4 Walls》是f（x）第四張專輯，也是組合首次以四人組形式發(fā)行音樂作品——因此取此專輯名——正好處于Pink Tape和Red Light風格的交匯處，做出一座流暢電子流行音樂游樂宮，且收錄了一堆可流傳后世保質(zhì)度極高的歌曲。這也是K-pop中第一次回歸大方承認陣容的變化——甚至將其納入專輯的營銷和歌詞——但此組合的音樂沒有大的變動。這只是一種流于表面的重生，盡管專輯的主打歌兼同名曲都隱晦地提到了“改變”和“成為新的”，但f(x)的合成流行音樂的影響力依然巋然不動。

Many tracks on?4 Walls?are sourced through Jam Factory, a music publisher that uses American musicians to create lyrics and melodies for Asian markets. The company’s strength lies in penning sounds without borders, and some of?4 Walls’ strongest collaborations involve producer LDN Noise, who creates pop songs with bridges that function as hooks and transitions that overlap to keep songs stimulating. Album closer "When I’m Alone", meanwhile, was originally co-written by?Carly Rae Jepsen?for her recentE?MO?TION?album. But the real X-factor is longtime f(x) collaborator, writer, and K-pop superproducer Kenzie, who wrote two of the album's most curious songs: "Papi" and "Cash Me Out". A Berklee School of Music grad, Kenzie navigates the cultural divide better than anyone.

《4 Walls》的許多曲目都是通過音樂出版商Jam Factory獲得的，一家由美國音樂家創(chuàng)作歌詞和旋律，專門為亞洲市場提供的公司。該公司的優(yōu)勢在于創(chuàng)作無國界的聲音。而且《4 Walls》中最強勢的合作有英國創(chuàng)作團隊LDN Noise的參與，他們創(chuàng)作出流行歌曲的bridge部分，作為hook和過渡的部分，在歌曲中重疊出現(xiàn)以增進歌曲的趣味性。由Carly Rae Jepsen執(zhí)筆的專輯收尾曲"When I’m Alone"最初計劃收錄于她最新發(fā)行的專輯《E?MO?TION》中。但真正的決定因素還是f（x）的長期合作伙伴，作詞家，也是K-pop的超級制作人的Kenzie，他為專輯貢獻了兩首最奇特的歌曲?"Papi"和?"Cash Me Out"?。作為伯克利音樂學院的畢業(yè)生，Kenzie比任何人都能更好地駕馭文化差異。

Listening to any K-pop record (or any foreign language record, really) can prove to be a challenging experience for casual listeners simply due to the added communication barrier. You can also lose some key information in translation—even when you know what's being said, there's a layer of context missing. Still, just like any other type of music, a listener has the opportunity to fill in some of that context on their own; stripping Korean of its code is no different than reinterpreting a really dense English lyric.?4 Walls?is even more accessible because f(x) songs tend to have a lot of Western cues: Many of the melodies recall songs from the American pop canon and, as with many K-pop songs, there are English lyrics spliced in throughout (at one point, Amber raps, "I was low key/ That’s the old me/ Now there’s Top 10 honeys tryna phone me").

對于普通聽眾來說，聽任何K-pop唱片(或者任何外語唱片，真的)都是一種具有挑戰(zhàn)性的體驗，因為這增加了溝通障礙。在翻譯過程中，你也可能會漏掉些關(guān)鍵信息——即使你知道對方在說什么，也會失去一層語境。然而，就像任何其他類型的音樂一樣，聽者自己也有機會加入自己的理解；剝?nèi)ロn文的代碼無異于重新解讀一段非常難懂的英文歌詞?！? Walls》還更易懂些，因為f（x）的歌曲有很多西方元素：很多旋律都能讓你聯(lián)想到美國經(jīng)典流行歌曲，和許多韓國流行音樂歌曲一樣，有英語歌詞的拼接（在某處，Amber說唱道"I was low key/ That’s the old me/ Now there’s Top 10 honeys tryna phone me"）

Western pop fans don’t need to be heavily invested in the K-pop world to?get?the appeal of f(x)’s music, and?4 Walls?is an enjoyable listen even for those not looking to broach the language gap. Korean is a beautiful language with long multi-syllabic words that unspool in clumps and it carries American-stylized pop melodies fluently, breaking up long vowel sounds to fit into sonic phrases. There are few better introductions to K-pop than f(x), and?4 Walls?is a strong introduction to f(x) 2.0.

不了解K-pop的西方流行音樂的粉絲們也能陷入f（x）編織的音樂魅力中，而且即使是對于不想打破語言隔閡的聽眾來說，《4 Walls》也是一次非常愉悅的聆聽享受。韓語是一種美麗的語言，會成群地展開多音節(jié)詞匯，它流暢地引導(dǎo)著美國式的流行旋律，把長元音分解融入樂段中。很少有比f(x)更有資格介紹韓國流行音樂的人物，而《4 Walls》正是f(x) 2.0的有力介紹。