为了这张专辑,Carey和长期合作人Jermaine Dupri, Rodney Jerkins以及制作人Hit-Boy联合创作。去年她发行了专辑中的首支单曲"#Beautiful" (featuring Miguel),随后推出了"The Art of Letting Go",这也是一直盛传的专辑同名单曲。
来自REVOLT的报道:乘着众多渴望,Mimi回来了,距离她第14张录音室专辑Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse的发行已经指日可待。本周她通过网络推出了新单曲"Thirsty",在这支Hit-Boy操刀制作的单曲中,她和亚特兰大新晋说唱歌手Rich Homie Quan合作呈现了又一首夏日主题歌曲。
这张新专辑最引人注目的地方是什么——显然是专辑名,Me. I Am Mariah ...The Elusive Chanteuse(3.5星/满分4星),在5月27日发行的这张专辑已经通过iTunes Radio全碟发布——她的声音是那么的轻松和自信。她强烈的自我意识毁了她上一张录音室专辑Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel。与此相反,Carey这张一再推迟发行日期的专辑(同时几支主打单曲也表现不佳)给人的印象则是她只关心符合自己的标准,而歌迷则全全支持她。
专辑收录了诸如钢琴伴奏下耐人寻味的"Cry."以及梦幻般的"Supernatural",后者Carey通过作品表达了她浓浓的母爱,她嗓音中牛奶般的润滑与沙哑的质感同村,而重点则是情感传递,而不是各种修饰。扣人心弦的"Camouflage",这首Carey和Big Jim Wright(还有长期合作人Jermaine Dupri以及Rodney Jerkins)共同创作的作品,找寻了她擅长的福音色彩和声交织在一起的完美表现。
专辑中还凄美翻唱了George Michael的"One More Try",以及活泼闪亮的"Meteorite",这首歌以人人熟悉的安迪·沃霍尔(Andy Warhol)最著名的“每个人都会成名15分钟”开场,似乎比当年的她更为真实。不管是否“难以捉摸”,这位“女歌手”是仅存的歌者,在今天这善变的光陆离奇的流行风景中,她已属于罕见。
来自Entertainment Weekly的评论:让我们从专辑名称开始:难以捉摸的女歌手?当我们看到新专辑名称开头的两个单词Me和I,你很难把它当回事,在封面图片中她就站在那里,穿着镂空泳衣,就像阿芙罗狄蒂(希腊传说中爱与美的女神)。尽管从2009年Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel之后这位歌手就没有再发行过录音室专辑,她依然无处不在:在HSN宣传新香水时声称她需要那“闻香的时刻”;告诉20/20她在自己的"Fantasy"歌声中生下双胞胎孩子;在“美国偶像”的舞台上和Nicki Minaj生死对决(当时她担任该节目评委,她告诉Billboard说“这不是节日”)。这是真正令人兴奋的事情,她以一首"Cry."为专辑开场,一位充满情感的Mariah在钢琴声中敲开了人们的心房,使人们第一次真正开始关心音乐本身。
通过与长期合作人Jermaine Dupri的合作,Carey列出了一份有中板R&B曲目和充满灵魂的悲伤歌曲构成的曲目列表,并用这些歌曲凸显了她最得意的资产:那个声音。她以Jennifer Holliday的方式演绎了新歌"You Don't Know What To Do",她以海豚音为"Dedicated"的结尾布满高潮,后者是她与Nas合作的一首充满Wu-Tang风格的有趣作品,以致敬Hip-Hop音乐的黄金时代。
怀旧是新专辑一个很大的主题,无论是歌词(在"Faded"中她翻看着旧相册)还是音乐,在编排方面都借用了包括Inner Life的迪斯科曲风作品"I'm Caught Up (In a One Night Love Affair)"和O'Jays' Philly灵魂经典"Let Me Make Love to You"等,Stevie Wonder甚至在"Make It Look Good"献上了他的口琴独奏,要知道这声音估计已经封存许多年了。专辑中依然有许多节奏缓慢的,伤感的抒情情歌作品,比如用竖琴弹奏的"Supernatural" (根据专辑描述,双胞胎宝贝Roc和Roe参与了这首歌曲)。你很容易让自己沉浸在Mariah深情演绎的福音作品"Heavenly (No Ways Tired/Can't Give Up Now)"中,这首歌曲以整个合唱团作为和声背景,并采样了已故大师Rev. James Cleveland的作品。也许这不再是"Vision Of Love"式的Mariah,但她听起来似乎更像那个女孩。
正如之前宣布的,Mariah Carey通过Twitter和iTunes谈起了她的新专辑Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse。她通过Twitter贴图并留言道:
谢谢你们!期待回答关于新专辑的问题!
.@iTunes thank you for having me! Looking forward to answering questions about #MeIamMariah #AskMariah
iTunes: 你如何描述这张新专辑?
Mariah: 显然很难用140个字母来回答这个问题。(.@iTunes obviously difficult to answer in 140 characters but... #AskMariah)
这是一个整体,它们记录了我过去三年来的私人和音乐生活历程。(.@iTunes it is a body of work that is the outcome of the journey I've been through in the past 3 years personally and musically. #AskMariah)
iTunes: 你怎么想到给专辑取名"The Elusive Chanteuse"?
Mariah: 一位朋友告诉我说他喜欢这个名字,然后我就试着决定看看。(.@iTunes A friend of mine told me he liked" the elusive chanteuse" While I was trying to decide... #AskMariah)
他说“因为你不会被限制住”…….我想这也许是表达我自己的另一种方式。(@iTunes He said " because you can't be held down".. I thought that was another way to look at it... #AskMariah)
这也是我为什么选择我小时候绘画作品的一个原因。(.@iTunes & that was part of the reason I chose to go with my little "Me I am Mariah" plus the new moniker #AskMariah)
iTunes: 歌曲"Dedicated"的节奏真的很有意思。这首歌怎么来的?
Mariah: 我和Hit-Boy以及James Fauntleroy合作创作了这首歌。它来自于对Hip-Hop和R&B音乐的怀旧。(.@iTunes I worked on "Dedicated" w Hitboy&James Fauntleroy. It came from a place of nostalgia& wanting 2 pay homage 2 ol skool Hip-Hop & R&B)
iTunes: 你最想要和歌迷分享哪一首歌?
Mariah: 我传递给歌迷的信息一直都是,我希望他们将这张专辑作为一个全新的整体来聆听。(.@iTunes The message I've been trying to give to the fans is for everyone to hear the album in its entirety as a new body of work #AskMariah)
这也是很难去选择最爱歌曲的原因。从我个人角度我喜欢"Camouflage",我也喜欢"Money ($*/...)"这首歌。(.@iTunes That's why it's so hard to pick favorites. I love Camouflage for my own personal reasons, I also love Money ($*/...) #AskMariah)
我爱"Dedicated", "Thirsty", "Heavenly",但从这张专辑中选出最爱尤其难。(.@iTunes I love Dedicated, Thirsty, Heavenly, but it's just really hard especially with this album to choose a favorite. #AskMariah)
Mariah : 我和Nas以及Fabolous都合作产生过冠军单曲。能和他们再度合作真令人惊叹!(.@iTunes I've had #1 records with both @nas & @myfabolouslife. It was incredible to be able to work with them both again #fam #respect)
我喜欢和Wale合作,即使这是第一次。我很开心人们喜欢这首"You Don't Know What To Do"。(.@iTunes I loved working with @Wale for the first time & I'm so happy people are responding to our song together #YouDontKnowWTD #AskMariah)
iTunes: 如果让你选择一位歌手合唱歌曲,无论是在世还是离世的,你会选择谁?
Mariah: 我很幸运能够与从Hip-Hop到古典音乐这些业内最伟大的人合作。(.@iTunes I've been blessed to work with the greatest in the business in almost every genre from Hip-Hop to classical #AskMariah)
我喜欢合作自然而然的发声,在专辑中的一些合作人是我一直以来很喜欢的合作对象。(.@iTunes I love when the collaborations happen organically and the ones on this album are some of my favorites, ever. #AskMariah)
Mariah: 他们很喜欢!现在他们会跟着唱这首歌。他们称这首歌叫"beat go!"。(.@iTunes @sarimjavaid THEY LOVE IT! They know they inspired the song and they sing along. They call it "beat go!" #Supernatural #AskMariah)
iTunes: “我很想知道在'One More Try'结尾时的心跳声有何意义?” — @theofficialJLM
Mariah: 这也是我为什么想要人们听一整张专辑的原因。有些意义比心跳声本身更深层次(.@iTunes @theofficialJLM This is why I want people to listen to the album in its entirety. It represents something deeper than... #AskMariah)
我想要歌迷用他们自己的方式去解释。(.@iTunes @theofficialJLM just the sound of a heartbeat. I want to let the fans interpret it in their own way. #L4L #AskMariah)
iTunes: “专辑中有没有特别为Nick创作的歌曲?” — @VictoriaVGA
Mariah: 亲爱的!我一直让我的歌保持模糊的状态。(.@iTunes @VictoriaVGA dahhling! I always keep the inspirations behind my songs vague so that... #AskMariah)
这样每个人都能结合自己的生活给出不同的解释。(.@iTunes @VictoriaVGA everyone can interpret it differently & apply to their own lives #CauseIComeHomeToYou #AskMariah)
Mariah: 谢谢你!这是一种回报,因为我为专辑投入了太多。是的,我等不及开始我的巡演。(.@VegasGiblet @iTunes Thank you! It's so rewarding because I put so much into this album. Yes, I cannot wait to tour! #AskMariah)
iTunes: “这张专辑录制的第一首歌和最后一首歌是什么?” — @noble_nadir
Mariah: 实际上"Make It Look Good"是录制的第一首歌,也是最后一首。这首歌创作于专辑的开始阶段。(.@noble_nadir @iTunes "Make It Look Good" was actually the first and last. Wrote it when we started the process... #AskMariah)
然后,我很有幸能邀请来我的音乐英雄,无可比拟的Stevie Wonder参与。(.@noble_nadir @iTunes and later on, we were blessed with a harmonica solo by my musical hero, the incomparable Stevie Wonder #AskMariah)
iTunes: “你是不是在专辑中忘记附上歌词了?” — @NungNon
Mariah: 我没有忘记!我必须说我不想要为了发行的截止日期而匆匆了事。(.@NungNon @iTunes No I did not! I must say that I didn't want to be rushed to meet a deadline when the way I like to include my...#AskMariah)
为歌迷呈现歌词是非常具体的事情,我常常在歌中有一些一带而过的唱词,大家不一定能够听出来。(@NungNon @iTunes lyrics for the fans is very specific and I will often select specific adlibs that may not be easy to hear... #AskMariah)
但这些歌词对我来说非常重要。我会发布这些歌词,以我想要的方式。(.@NungNon @iTunes but are very important to me. I will release the lyrics when I can do them the way I want to do them. #AskMariah)
iTunes: “制作这张专辑最大的挑战是什么?” — @LittleEmm_Lamb
Mariah: 在即将完成这张专辑的时候,我摔坏了我的肩膀,肋骨骨折。(.@LittleEmm_Lamb @iTunes I dislocated my shoulder & broke my rib during the process of trying to finish this album... #AskMariah)
但我不想让大家觉得我很可怜,即使我现在仍在在恢复治疗中。(.@LittleEmm_Lamb @iTunes I didn't want to turn it into a woe is me pity party. I'm still recovering now... #AskMariah)
在打字过程中我就在接受物理治疗,谢谢Nicole。(.@LittleEmm_Lamb @iTunes I'm getting physical therapy as I type this (thanks Nicole!) #AskMariah)
Mariah: 我当然有过。我有过好几次动情时刻,尤其是在专辑快要收尾的时候。(.@andrea_st Ciao! Yes, I did. I went through several very emotional moments specifically towards the end of the process. #AskMariah)
iTunes: “你如何评论现有的这些媒体评价?” — @MatiTaylorL4L
Mariah: 我将我自己全部放进了专辑中,因此我充满感激。(.@MatiTaylorL4L @iTunes I put my everything in making this album, so I'm humbled & full of gratitude #AskMariah)
干杯,我的歌迷,我很高兴能与你们庆祝并分享这一时刻。“你们永远是我的一部分,我也是你们的”
Cheers to all my fans,I'm elated to celebrate & share this moment w/ you. "You'll always be a part of me, I'm part of you indefinitely" #L4L
October 4, 2014 TOKYO, JAPAN Makuhari Messe
October 6, 2014 YOKOHAMA, JAPAN Yokohama Arena
October 8, 2014 SEOUL, KOREA Olympic Park
October 10, 2014 HONG KONG AsiaWorld Expo
October 12, 2014 CHENGDU, CHINA Chengdu Sports Centre
October 15, 2014 CHONGQING, CHINA Chongqing Olympic Sports Centre
October 19, 2014 SHANGHAI, CHINA Hongkou Stadium
October 22, 2014 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA Stadium Merdeka
October 24, 2014 SINGAPORE National Stadium
October 28, 2014 TAIPEI, TAIWAN Taipei Arena