Rating: * * *
Pink is not one to shy away from a fight. You only have to listen to her current, indelible chart topper So What to realise she'll kick your ass. And anyone else's in the vicinity.
If only someone had warned TV One reporter Hannah Hodson,
before she went asking tricky questions of the ballsy singer.
But when she's not bristling for a fight, it seems Pink is still sorting through some emotional baggage from her recent marital breakdown, as catalogued in the current number one album Funhouse.
It's an odd name for something that is undoubtedly, and unashamedly, a break up album. And for something that quickly reveals itself to be not much fun at all.
Raw, powerful and swathed in sadness, Sober quickly dampens the mood of the record, before the sap-ridden I Don't Believe You douses it altogether. Crooning to a slow, uninspired backing track, Pink positively wallows in despair, before launching into another maudlin - albeit powerfully seductive - track One Foot Wrong.
Title track Funhouse hears the singer lighten up and return to form with a strong, swaggering electro funk beat, complete with her trademark ass-kicking lyrics.
It's All Your Fault and Ave Mary A also help stabilise the record with some good old-fashioned bitter resentment, helping relieve the shock of hearing Pink begging "Please don't leave me" on a track of the same name.
Musically, it's a solid offering with Pink's blistering, raw vocals on form as ever, particularly as she enters into a cracked and haunting lower register on Crystal Ball. But those expecting a kick-ass follow up to the first single will find themselves surprisingly empty-handed.
Joanna Hunkin
