REVIEW: P!NK - TRUSTFALL

3.5/5

Born Pink. 

The power of P!nk. In the exclamation of 2017's 'Beautiful Trauma', the huge hit, lead single off this classic pop album ('What About Us') was a political statement disguised as a break-up song. "What about us? What about all the times you said you had the answers", Pink asked then President Donald Trump and the America he claimed to be making great again. We love layered songs like this, accessible to everybody, but hiding deeper truths in a moral message. Like Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' song which is actually an ode that helped MLK get his own day. Now how's that for a dream? Whilst we're here, check out Pink's anything but 'Irrelevant' track protesting the overruling of Roe vs. Wade to show just how important this artist and her message is right now. But on the all-caps 'TRUSTFALL' of music megastar Pink's ninth album (her first since the pre-pandemic 'Hurts 2B Human' of 2019), Alecia Beth Moore Hart straight-forward bares it all on the outstanding opening track dedicated to her Dad. The heartbreakingly beautiful 'When I Get There'. 

"I think of you when I think about forever/I hear a joke and I know you would’ve told it better/I think of you out of the blue when I’m watching a movie that you’d hate/You’d said you were never one to hesitate/You were always first in line, so why would it be different for Heaven?/But I got a couple questions/Is there a bar up there where you’ve got a favorite chair?/Where you sit with friends and talk about the wеather?/Is there a placе you go to watch the sunset/And, oh, is there a song you just can’t wait to share?/Yeah, I know, you’ll tell me when I get there." Need we say any more? Easily one of the greatest songs this singer has ever sung which clearly means the most to her. You can trust in that. 

'TRUSTFALL's' title track is all about letting go and falling backwards into the arms of someone you embrace like faith. Then you can fly like the iconic video for another early 2000s legend that still believes in MTV. It's a beautiful message for the trauma, underscored with lyrics like, "Picture a place where it all doesn't hurt/Where everything's safe, and it doesn't get worse, oh my/We see through bloodshot eyes/Picture a place, somewhere else far away/Where you know what they mean, and they mean what they say to us/And would that be enough." Pink has always represented for those who feel like they can't have their say with her powerful voice. Way before it was "cool" or social media support easy to do. She's still championing everybody who now feel like somebody thanks to people like her. And the ones who are going to come to that realization late at night, headphones on, tears wiped under the covers. Smartphones illuminating screens of iconic album covers. 

The Lumineers leave a legacy on the album standout 'Long Way To Go' on some compelling collaborations for the record. First Aid Kit help stitch up the beautiful ballad 'Kids In Love' which reminds you of the teenage one LL Cool J rapped about as a youth, alone in his room. Whilst the classic closer featuring modern country giant Chris Stapelton ('Just Say I'm Sorry') staples everything together with one of the realest love songs of autonomy and accountability. But for all these big names, one of the biggest in the industry still holds her own like trading album guest features with fellow rebel with a cause Eminem in 2017.

Pink still has venom and knows how to get the party started again. You can feel that coming home to the lead single 'Never Not Gonna Dance Again'. She's been through way too much to not cherish all the steps we all have left. And it's a notion you should two-step with whether your parents are getting older, you've become one yourself, or if you're still just a kid. 'All I Know So Far', Pink remarked in 2021 in promotion for that documentary was that this new album was going to be "very honest". And it's exactly that to the tee a few weeks after fellow artist of before their time women's empowerment (although this has always been an important and potent movement before mainstream media latched on) Shania Twain showed us she was still the 'Queen Of Me'. 

Experiencing 'Turbulence', Pink navigates the storms of love and life. And you should buckle up as the 'Just Like A Pill' singer is about to start a fight, embarking on a 2023 world tour now it's safer to do so. The 'Runaway' talent is still here to the 'Last Call'. Deeply devoted like her now iconic, gone viral award show speech to her daughter. 'Hate Me' or her? Nah! This singer is no 'Lost Cause' singing on 'Feel Something', "I usually break the things that I love/I usually break the things that I love/I build 'em up too high just to watch them fall down/The sins of my father are heavy/I carry the weight on my back/Wouldn't you think by now I'd be ready", until you do. Navigating all these inner and outer nuances for better or worse. But it's 'Our Song' that will strike a chord with the "little bit funny" Elton John and John Legend 'All Of Me' crowd. A script flipped antithesis, stating, "Now we don't even know the words to it anymore/And you don't look at me that way like you did before/Now it's just another song on thе dance floor/And we don't evеn know the words to it anymore." Get ready to be in matrimony with a mainstream artist that's the real deal. P!nk has released one of the biggest albums of the year, yet we're far from the fall. Trust. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'When I Get There', 'Trustfall', 'Long Way To Go (Feat. The Lumineers)'.