P!nk/Hurts 2B Human

Mike Wood

When it feels like an artist is speaking directly to us, that’s the true power of song. Heartache, triumph over adversity, despair, depression, and so much more, P!nk’s songs resonate because we can feel them deeply. Throughout her two-decades-long career, P!nk has had her finger on the pulse of so many people’s life trajectories. On Hurts 2B Human, she opens up her heart yet again and lets us see her vulnerability while always toughing it through whatever life tosses in her path. 

Her lyrics are akin to intimate therapy sessions, but P!nk’s not relegated to a psychologist’s couch. She singing to the rafters on the world stage, offering up an uncensored listen into her—and likely our—deepest fears and convictions. Stand-outs include “Love Me Anyway”, a duet with country crooner Chris Stapleton about our insecurities in imperfect relationships, and the piano-driven “Circle Game”, a missed-childhood ballad that proves P!nk isn’t afraid to reflect on losses from long ago as well as present-day growing pains. P!nk’s trademark of late are her soaring anthems, and they leave no stone or life story—lost love, motherhood, addiction, death and denial—unturned. And while these songs don’t necessarily lend themselves to an uplifting pop album, Hurts 2B Human offers listeners a gold mine and, simultaneously, a land mine exploding with emotion—pouring from the mouth of an artist who still has a lot to say and sing about even 20 years after her debut.

For more info, please visit pinkspage.com.

Shallow Side/Saints & Sinners

Jason Savio

It has been brewing for some time and now it is finally here. After a series of EPs, Alabama-bred rockers Shallow Side have released their full-length album, Saints & Sinners. But was it worth the wait? 

The quartet that is Shallow Side certainly comes out swinging. “Revival” provides a bombastic opening worthy of teeing up the rest of the album. Heavy hitters also include the sledgehammer power chords of “Sound the Alarm” and the neo-guitar mania of “Carry On.”

Shallow Side’s real bread and butter is when they mix in their southern DNA on the title track with a steamy twang. The lyrical content of “Drugs & Lust” and the aforementioned “Saints & Sinners” is down-the-pipe generic rock fare, as their titles suggest. It’s when singer Eric Boatright talks about a failing relationship and the unwanted desires that stem from it in “Temptations” that you start to listen more to what he has to say.

As hinted at on their shorter releases, Shallow Side has a knack for big, strong choruses backed by surging melodies. It’s what helps keep them from being a sluggish, boring 21st century rock band. There are hints of 80s glam flair in some of the vocals if you listen closely enough, notably on “Drugs & Lust.” But just a dash, not too much to bubble over into making you think you’re listening to a retro act. 

Shallow Side can provide a breath of fresh air at times on Saints and Sinners even if it is a bit uneven at times.

For more, visit: shallowside.net.

The Cranberries/In the End

Jennifer Russo

After the heartbreaking death of Cranberries front-woman Dolores O’Riordan last year, I had wondered if the band was ever going to complete and release the album that they had started. A longtime Cranberries fan, I had mixed feelings about the idea. Overall, I am so glad that her bandmates took the time to puzzle together their instrumentals with the vocal tracks Dolores recorded beforehand, creating such a beautiful album to honor both her and the band’s three-decade legacy.

We hear the previously released singles “In the End” and “Over Now” on this offering and the rest of the album is true to Cranberries style, with beautifully heartfelt and emotionally permeating lyrics. Meanwhile, Dolores’ voice comes through like the angel she likely now is. Strangely, many of the songs, as the album title might suggest, seem to express an ending and a desire to move on to the next place and see what it holds. The instrumentals on the album convey the sadness and grief of the surviving members clearly, yet with some glimmer of hope intertwined.

Throughout the songs, there are elements of inspiration from The Smiths and The Cure, but all are still signature. There has only been one and will only be one band like The Cranberries, and this is a refreshing thought. Like other singers who have passed away such as Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson and David Bowie, Dolores had a voice that you could never mistake for anyone else’s, and it is showcased respectfully here with no changes made to its purity.

I found it leaving me wanting…not in a bad way due to the music in it because the music was wonderful, but because there is the reminder that this truly is the last time we will hear anything new from them. Though it was not the original intention when the album was first conceived, it is a beautifully crafted farewell to fans all around the globe.

For the official website, visit cranberries.com