陳綺貞：花的蛻變

Through the themes of “decay， rebirth， blossom”—it has taken more than 8 years for Cheer Chen to finish her “Trilogy of Flowers”. After 2005s Peripeteia and 2009s Immortal， you would assume that the last installment， Songs of Transience， is a grand finale.

But after listening to the 12-song album， not only did I find it a little introverted and thin as a finale， my other reaction was： Where is the Cheer Chen that we used to know？ The long-haired， innocent singer who often wore a white T-shirt and a Bohemian skirt， holding a guitar and humming catchy folk melodies， is no longer there.

歷時8年，陳綺貞終于完成了她的“花的姿態三部曲”——“腐朽、重生、綻放”三個主題。繼2005年的專輯《華麗的冒險》和2009年的《太陽》之后，你會想當然認為最終樂章——《時間的歌》將為三部曲畫上圓滿的句點。

但聽完專輯里的12首歌之后，除了發現它作為最終樂章稍顯含蓄和單薄之外，更多的感想是：我們所熟悉的那個陳綺貞哪兒去了？那位一頭長發、常常穿著白色T恤和波西米亞長裙、抱著吉他哼唱動人民謠的純真歌者不見了。

Instead， youll hear a lot of piano， drum and orchestral arrangements， and the songs on the albums， especially in the first half， are somewhat difficult to sing along to.

But that doesnt mean a bad thing. Actually， it comes as a pleasant surprise， because after 15 years of singing the same kind of indie folk songs， its good to see her trying something new.

Her poetic lyrics gradually took us back to the old Chen. Well， almost. Title songs from her previous albums， such as “Travel with Sound” and “Fly for You”， often dealt with her perception of and confusion in relationships.

But if you carefully read into her words on Songs of Transience， youll see that her vision has expanded—from humanity and philosophy to lifes best moments—although in the same talking-to-herself tone. For example， she talks about the life struggles and anxieties of ordinary people in “Gypsy in Memory”， loneliness and helplessness in “Home”， and larger-than-life love in “Peace and Revolution”.

At the age of nearly 40， Chen certainly cant limit herself to love and affection any more. But Chen takes on so much at once that it feels like her strength cant match her ambition. Maybe thats why that the album sounds “a little introverted and thin”.

Despite these small shortcomings， you have to hand it to Chen for her skillful playing with musical concepts. For example， she uses “time” as the theme on Songs of Transience， symbolizing that blossoming is a magnificent but transient process.

Whether shes already bloomed or not， her next work is also worth looking forward to.

取而代之的是，編曲中加入了大量鋼琴、鼓和管弦樂元素，而且專輯里的歌，尤其是前半張專輯的幾首，傳唱度都不怎么高。

可這并不意味著是什么壞事。其實，這種改變有些讓人喜出望外，因為在唱了15年同種風格的獨立民謠后，她終于開始嘗試全新風格了，這是件好事。

新專輯中如詩般的歌詞漸漸讓我們想起從前那個陳綺貞。好吧，還算沒有“面目全非”。她前幾張專輯中的主打歌，例如《旅行的意義》和《失敗者的飛翔》，往往會涉及她對于情感的看法和困惑。

但是如果你仔細讀過《時間的歌》中那些的歌詞，你會發現她的視角已經從人性和哲學拓展到了生命中最美好的瞬間，盡管她還是采用了一貫自言自語的調子。例如，她在《流浪者之歌》中觸及了平凡人生活中的掙扎和焦慮，在《家》中展現出孤獨和無助，而在Peace and Revolution中則體現了至高無上的愛。

年近40，陳綺貞當然不能繼續將自己局限在談情說愛里了。但陳綺貞這次一次性呈現得太多，似乎有些力不從心。或許這正是這張專輯聽起來“稍顯含蓄和單薄”的原因吧。

拋開這些小瑕疵不說，你不得不承認陳綺貞玩起音樂理念來駕輕就熟。例如，她選擇“時間”作為《時間的歌》的主題，象征著花開璀璨卻短暫的過程。

無論陳綺貞的才華是否已經完全綻放，她的下一部作品同樣值得期待。