The ninth album by P!nk, ‘Trustfall,’ is personal, serious, cheerful, a mix of genres, and brutally honest. But original and unique? Not quite. The American pop star is doing her own thing, as she has throughout her entire career. It’s commendable for P!nk. However, ‘Trustfall’ doesn’t always manage to impress musically.
Like everyone else, P!nk, the stage name of Alecia Moore, has been through a lot in recent years. For years, P!nk has been one of the most candid pop artists. On ‘Trustfall,’ she goes a step further. The opener, ‘When I Get There,’ is a sensitive ballad about the recent loss of her father. It’s a beautiful start to an album that is also a leap of faith for P!nk.
But after this beautiful piano ballad, P!nk takes a different approach. The title track, ‘Trustfall,’ is a pop song that even veers into the dance genre. This is partly thanks to producer Fred Again. The hit producer has once again succeeded. The title track is very catchy and pleasing to the ear. But innovative? No, not really. A connection with the mega-hit ‘What About Us’ is quickly drawn.
Variety of genres on ‘Trustfall’
What stands out in ‘Trustfall’ is the variety of genres on display. The pop artist even ventures into folk and country, largely due to her collaborations, some of which are more successful than others. ‘Long Way to Go’ with The Lumineers lacks originality. The song, a building piano ballad, doesn’t quite convince, particularly due to the mismatch of vocal styles. On the other hand, ‘Kids in Love’ is a bullseye. Simple, but the harmonies with the sisters of First Aid Kit sound great.
But as a pop artist, you can’t do without the big pop hits. That’s why P!nk enlisted the help of Swedish hit producers Max Martin and Shellback. Together with them, P!nk created ‘Never Gonna Not Dance Again.’ The single that announced ‘Trustfall’ has been performing well in the charts for a while now. However, this isn’t the song P!nk wants to be remembered for. This ultra-pop song has a bit too much of everything. Too cheerful, too infectious, too poppy, and too many words in the title. Simply overproduced. But fans of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’ will undoubtedly play the song on repeat.
P!nk’s surprising collabs
The second half of ‘Trustfall’ follows a similar pattern. P!nk stays within her established range, with the exception of the closer, ‘Just Say I’m Sorry.’ The collaboration with American country singer Chris Stapleton is strong, very strong. P!nk’s powerful vocals, accompanied by an acoustic guitar and Stapleton’s raspy voice, make for a beautiful conclusion to this album.
Overall, P!nk hasn’t ventured into surprising musical territories on ‘Trustfall.’ And why should she? It has worked for her in her eight previous albums. Once again, she has sold out a stadium tour and is headlining Pinkpop for a reason. But an artist of her caliber should sometimes dare to try something new, even at the risk of it not working out. Perhaps on her next, tenth album.
