凱蒂·普洛克特發(fā)現(xiàn)放手的力量:“我給自己施加了很大的壓力。”

In hindsight, Katie Pruitt’s decision to name her debut album Expectations was either brilliant or crazy — or both.
事后看來(lái)，凱蒂·普洛克特決定將她的首張專(zhuān)輯命名為《期望》，要么是明智的，要么是瘋狂的——要么兩者兼而有之。

After its 2020 release, it did everything to live up to its name. Critical praise showered like confetti: “genius,” “dazzling,” “earth-shattering.” On tour after the COVID quarantine lifted, Pruitt was rewarded with worshipful crowds who sang back every word of her sharp lyrics. The warm reception gained her spots on "ones to watch" lists, opening dates with Brandi Carlile and a nomination for emerging act of the year from the Americana Music Association.
在2020年發(fā)布后，它盡了一切努力來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)它的名字。批評(píng)之聲如五彩紙屑般紛至沓來(lái):“天才”、“令人眼花繚亂”、“驚天動(dòng)地”。在新冠肺炎隔離解除后的巡演中，普魯伊特得到了崇拜她的人群的回報(bào)，他們唱出了她尖銳歌詞的每一個(gè)字。熱情的接待讓她登上了“值得關(guān)注”的榜單，與布蘭迪·卡萊爾一起登臺(tái)演出，并獲得了美國(guó)音樂(lè)協(xié)會(huì)的年度新人獎(jiǎng)提名。

The response was so glorious that all Pruitt could feel, as she approached album No. 2, was — here it comes — expectations. And, no, the irony isn’t lost on her; there’s not a lot that gets past her acute mind.
當(dāng)普洛克特即將發(fā)行第二張專(zhuān)輯的時(shí)候，她所能感受到的只是期待。而且，不，她并沒(méi)有忘記這種諷刺;沒(méi)有什么事能逃過(guò)她敏銳的頭腦。

“I don’t know if I expected” — she laughs, catching herself on her word choice — “it [the album] to do what it did and to have the reaction that it had.” Once it did, though, says Pruitt, “I was putting a lot of pressure on myself the second time around to outdo the first record. I was really trying to rush it, and I was trying to force myself to be inspired, and it was hard.”
“我不知道我是否期望”——她笑著說(shuō)，她的用詞選擇讓她自己明白了——“它(這張專(zhuān)輯)能做到它所做的，并有它所引起的反應(yīng)。”不過(guò)，一旦打破紀(jì)錄，普魯伊特說(shuō):“第二次我給自己施加了很大的壓力，要超越第一次的紀(jì)錄。我真的很著急，我試圖強(qiáng)迫自己受到啟發(fā)，但這很難。”

How much pressure? Enough that it took her four long years to finally release her sophomore album, Mantras, out this month. It’s a sublime collection of worth-the-wait music, brimming with Pruitt’s rare artistry, her relentless drive to self-explore and her insistent urge to take listeners along for the ride. Her journey, though, first had to push her through a therapist’s door and past the “mental roadblocks” — just to get her going again. (“Shout-out MusiCares!” says Pruitt, namechecking a mental health service for the music community.)
多大的壓力?以至于她花了漫長(zhǎng)的四年時(shí)間，終于在本月發(fā)行了她的第二張專(zhuān)輯《Mantras》。這是一本值得等待的音樂(lè)精選集，充滿(mǎn)了普魯伊特罕見(jiàn)的藝術(shù)才華，她對(duì)自我探索的不懈追求，以及她堅(jiān)持不懈地帶著聽(tīng)眾一起上路的愿望。然而，她的旅程首先必須推動(dòng)她通過(guò)治療師的門(mén)，越過(guò)“精神障礙”——只是為了讓她重新開(kāi)始。(“服務(wù)獎(jiǎng)?lì)C獎(jiǎng)禮!普魯伊特說(shuō)，他正在查一家為音樂(lè)界提供心理健康服務(wù)的機(jī)構(gòu)的名字。)

The pressure finally diminished, she says, once she understood “that I can’t control any outcome ever … All you can control is yourself. All the love and attention and detail that I pour into the songs is just like you’re throwing it to the wind. And there’s sort of a freedom in that. There’s a freedom of giving up clinging so tightly to all those aspects you can’t control.”
她說(shuō)，當(dāng)她明白“我永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法控制任何結(jié)果……你能控制的只有你自己”后，壓力終于減輕了。我在歌里傾注的所有愛(ài)和關(guān)注和細(xì)節(jié)就像你把它扔到風(fēng)中。這里面有一種自由。有一種自由，可以讓你放棄對(duì)那些你無(wú)法控制的方面的執(zhí)著。”