Music can hold so much power and can transport us back to certain memories or moments. It often tells some of the best stories! So, sit back, pop in your earbuds, and enjoy listening to the music featured in this column for Nonahood News. I hope to introduce you to some unforgettable new tunes.
P!nk has been a force to reckon with in the music industry for more than 20 years. She’s known as an artist who pushes the limits of performance. Her songs constantly crop up all over pop radio, making her voice instantly recognizable to mainstream pop listeners. She released her eighth studio album Hurts 2B Human on April 26, and it’s definitely in P!nk’s fashion to serve us yet another album that tugs on our heartstrings in one song then makes us want to get up and dance our insecurities away in the next.
The 13-track album Hurts 2B Human starts off strong with the hype song, “Hustle.” P!nk makes it very clear that she’s still the same edgy girl that gave us hits like “So What” and “Raise Your Glass.” In every verse, she catchily says, “Don’t try to hustle me,” inviting listeners to speak these words into existence for themselves. “(Hey Why) Miss You Sometime” describes an intense, summerlike love with lyrics such as, “Titanic with your love/Waking up in Florida kind of love.”
“Walk Me Home” is the lead single of the album, and for good reason. With the background of a chanting drum, she pleads someone to walk her home in the dead of night, as she’s afraid of being alone with an anxious mind. It’s vulnerable yet powerful at the same time; it’s classic P!nk.
After “Walk Me Home,” P!nk sends listeners deeper into vulnerability in the next three songs, “My Attic,” “90 Days,” and “Hurts 2B Human.” In “My Attic,” she warns against braving her “attic,” a metaphor for the demons that she has hidden inside herself. The synth-pop song “90 Days” compares a toxic romance to practicing sobriety for 90 days. The title track “Hurts 2B Human” with Khalid is a match made in heaven, a combination of two distinct, velvety voices. They say that while it hurts to be human, they’ve got each other. After the heavier topics of the previous songs, “Hurts 2B Human” gives prospects of hope.
Both the halfway point and turning point of the album, “Can We Pretend” featuring Cash Cash is a summer banger and my favorite song off the album. Over Cash Cash’s dance beat, P!nk wonders if we can pretend to live in another reality and let go of the ugliness that coats our world.
“Courage” is the most inspirational song of the album. P!nk asks herself, “Have I the courage to change?” She urges listeners to follow suit and ask the question of ourselves. In the therapeutic song, “Happy,” P!nk works through awful thoughts she’s had throughout life in order to figure out if she can ever allow herself to be happy. After the previous song, “Courage,” we want to shout back to her – yes, of course!
A combination of ’80s and ’90s pop influences, “We Could Have It All” makes listeners dream of the one that got away. And is it really a P!nk album without a true love ballad? The somber duet with Chris Stapleton, “Love Me Anyway,” hits that quota hard; P!nk and Stapleton sing about the lengths lovers could possibly go to for each other. Hurts 2B Human winds down with “Circle Game,” where P!nk discusses the ironic game that life can turn into, and “The Last Song of Your Life,” where she’s determined to get it right and focus on what’s most important.
Overall, this album showcases P!nk’s characteristic versatility as a pop artist, similar to her albums in the past. I definitely encourage pop enthusiasts to listen to Hurts 2B Human, where I’m sure you’ll encounter more than one song that will make you belt out the words right along with P!nk.
Demi is currently a senior at UCF, studying creative writing. She is a lover of the arts and always eager to discuss films, TV and music. Feel free to send an email to demi@nona.media and have some of your favorite albums reviewed!
