For all of Pink’s rebellious spirit, her recent albums have followed a familiar pattern. A mixture of rustic ballads, pogoing guitar stomps and pepped-up pop anthems, usually co-written by a Swede, they’ve tended to blur into one. On Trustfall, her ninth album, she takes a few pleasing tangents – the pulsating, Robyn-like title track; the country sway of the lovely Last Call – but for the most part it’s business as usual.
The key element, as ever, is Pink’s voice. As supple as a gymnast, she anchors saccharine opener When I Get There’s sense of mourning, and is as comfortable navigating the Blinding Lights-esque Runaway as she is galloping through Hate Me, which suggests a less mumbly the Strokes but with a feminist twist: “I’m not your bitch, wanna light me up like an evil witch,” runs the chorus.
It’s a shame, then, that the material isn’t always up to scratch. Turbulence is as deep as any self-help Instagram post; Lost Cause is Adele-lite; and your enjoyment of DayGlo single Never Gonna Not Dance Again may depend on your sugar tolerance. Patchy but playful in places, Trustfall is reliably Pink.
