Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? is hypnotic, healing, and hopeful
Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? is hypnotic, healing, and hopeful
《Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?》：催眠、治愈且充满希望
The Soft Pink Truth’s beautiful and spontaneous feeling record is a balm in trying times. The Soft Pink Truth 这张优美且充满即兴感的唱片，是动荡时代里的一剂良药。
Matmos are an incredibly accomplished duo between their own solo records like the masterpiece A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure and production classic Bjork records like Vespertine. But Drew Daniel, one half of Matmos, is fiendishly prolific. When he’s not literally dreaming up new viral music genres, he’s also putting out records under the banner of The Soft Pink Truth. Matmos 是一个成就斐然的二人组，他们既有像《A Chance to Cut Is a Chance to Cure》这样的杰作，也曾参与制作 Björk 的经典专辑《Vespertine》。但作为 Matmos 成员之一的 Drew Daniel，其创作力极其旺盛。当他不在构思那些病毒式传播的新音乐流派时，他还会以 The Soft Pink Truth 的名义发行唱片。
Where Matmos usually focuses on a specific musical experiment — using only samples of medical procedures or building instruments out of PVC tubing — Soft Pink Truth goes wherever Daniel’s whims take him. That might be a house record. It might be a bunch of black metal covers. Or, in the case of Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?, it could be a shockingly beautiful and optimistic meditation on the rise of global fascism. Matmos 通常专注于特定的音乐实验——比如只使用医疗过程的采样，或是用 PVC 管制作乐器——而 Soft Pink Truth 则完全跟随 Daniel 的灵感随心所欲。它可能是一张 House 音乐唱片，也可能是一堆黑金属翻唱。而在《Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?》这张专辑中，它呈现出一种令人惊叹的优美与乐观，是对全球法西斯主义抬头的一种沉思。
Shall We Go On is a subtler record than Daniel’s previous solo efforts. It trades the distortion and house beats of previous material for something hypnotic and healing. While there are plenty of heavily manipulated field recordings and samples, as you’d find on a Matmos record, they err towards a more organic and ambient texture than Daniel’s other projects. 与 Daniel 之前的个人作品相比，《Shall We Go On》更加内敛。它摒弃了以往作品中的失真和 House 节拍，转而追求一种催眠且治愈的氛围。虽然专辑中依然充斥着大量经过深度处理的实地录音和采样（正如你在 Matmos 的唱片中所听到的那样），但它们比 Daniel 的其他项目更倾向于有机且环境化的质感。
The first track, “Shall,” sets the stage with some unsettling dissonant drones, fussy soundscapes, and a vocal chant that’s teetering dangerously on the edge of the uncanny valley. It’s an embodiment of what we’re leaving behind as the album kicks into gear with the minimal new-age thump of “We.” A muted four-on-the-floor kick backs clanking percussion, wind sweeps, female vocal runs, and a piano playing peekaboo. The song gradually gathers momentum, as the arrangement becomes busier and reaches for the clouds. 首曲目“Shall”通过令人不安的失调嗡鸣、繁杂的音景以及徘徊在“恐怖谷”边缘的人声吟唱，为整张专辑奠定了基调。随着专辑进入“We”那极简的新世纪风格律动，这种基调成为了我们所抛弃之物的化身。闷响的四拍子底鼓支撑着叮当的打击乐、呼啸的风声、女声吟唱以及若隐若现的钢琴声。歌曲逐渐积蓄能量，编曲也愈发丰富，仿佛直冲云霄。
“Go” follows the chilled-out dancefloor excursion of “We” with a call to prayer, before leading into the ocean-front ambiance of “On,” with its ghostly choir of vocals, glitchy piano, and gently plucked synths. “Go” 紧随“We”那轻松的舞池氛围，以一段祈祷式的呼唤开场，随后引入了“On”那海滨般的氛围感，伴随着幽灵般的合唱、故障风格的钢琴以及轻柔拨动的合成器音色。
These are all buildup, however, to what is arguably the album’s centerpiece, “Sinning.” Abstract saxophone blasts dance with bells and vibraphones as another simple four-on-the-floor kick injects the jam with undeniable groove. 然而，这一切都是为了铺垫专辑的核心曲目——“Sinning”。抽象的萨克斯风与铃铛、颤音琴交织起舞，而另一个简单的四拍子底鼓则为这段即兴演奏注入了不可抗拒的律动感。
I chose that word “jam,” intentionally, too. Where previous Soft Pink Truth records and most of Matmos’ catalog are built primarily from samples, Shall We Go On… leans heavily on live instrumentation and musicians bouncing ideas off each other in real time. Where Do You Party? feels meticulous; Shall We Go On… feels spontaneous. It gets caught up in its own celebration of human creativity and the power of art to heal. 我特意使用了“即兴演奏（jam）”这个词。以往的 Soft Pink Truth 唱片和大部分 Matmos 的作品主要由采样构建，而《Shall We Go On…》则大量依赖现场乐器，以及音乐人之间实时的灵感碰撞。如果说《Do You Party?》感觉精雕细琢，那么《Shall We Go On…》则显得随性自然。它沉浸在对人类创造力以及艺术治愈力量的赞美之中。
“So” is the comedown after the ecstatic celebration of “Sinning,” with the saxophones serving as our gateway to the back half of the album, which, like the rest of it, is a seamless mix. Their simple two-note drone becomes a recurring motif that other instruments build on top of, from the piano pedal that anchors the ambient chaos of “That,” to the jazzy explosion of “Grace,” that erupts from what sounds suspiciously like a car alarm having a nervous breakdown. “So” 是在“Sinning”那狂喜的庆祝之后的一段平复，萨克斯风引领我们进入专辑的后半部分，这部分与整张专辑一样，呈现出无缝衔接的融合感。简单的双音嗡鸣成为了反复出现的主题，其他乐器在其上层层叠加：从锚定“That”中环境混乱感的钢琴踏板，到“Grace”中那段爵士乐般的爆发——那声音听起来简直就像是汽车警报器在经历一场神经崩溃。
“May Increase” spends its four-plus-minute runtime disassembling everything that “That” built up. All the chaos, all the noise, until it finally ends with a deep exhale. “May Increase” 用四分多钟的时间拆解了“That”所建立的一切。所有的混乱，所有的噪音，最终都归于一声深沉的叹息。
The Soft Pink Truth’s Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase? is available on Bandcamp and most major streaming platforms, including YouTube Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and Deezer. The Soft Pink Truth 的《Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?》现已在 Bandcamp 及各大主流流媒体平台上线，包括 YouTube Music、Apple Music、Spotify 和 Deezer。