Rating: 4/5 stars

Not a whole lot of pop stars have been able to stay relevant as long as singer-songwriter Alecia Moore has. Known professionally by the name P!nk, she has had a wildly successful solo career, originally rising to fame in the 90s with the help of the all-girl R&B group Choice. Since leaving in 1995, she has been certified double-platinum, produced multiple Billboard Hot 100 top-ten hits and been the proud recipient of a Grammy Award. The messages in her songs range from being fun, heartbreaking or empowering. Not afraid to touch on serious subjects, P!nk has made a career out of pushing the envelope.

“Beautiful Trauma” is P!nk’s seventh full-length studio album, and shows a 38-year-old who is still at the very top of her game. Her voice continues to be her strongest quality, as the listener really gets the sense that she is putting in every ounce of effort into her singing. “What About Us” is the album’s hit song, an inspiring track with a steady, climbing kick drum that pushes the song along. “What about us? What about all the broken happy ever afters?” sings P!nk, her voice blending-in perfectly with the overpowering instrumental.

Rapper Eminem makes an appearance on the song “Revenge,” a lighthearted tune with a head-bobbing groove. P!nk sounds good, but Eminem really steals the show once he appears on the track, with the sense of humor that makes him so well-known on full display.

“For Now” starts out as a slower ballad where P!nk is lamenting about a past relationship, but it quickly picks up the pace and evolves into an explosive track, filled with airy guitars and hard-hitting drums. Even the weaker points on “Beautiful Trauma” have amazing vocal chops, with the biggest flaws heard within the lyricism. The song “Barbies” is a paint-by-the-numbers pop song, with a very unoriginal acoustic guitar intro and overall song structure. It is one of the few moments on the album that feel bland, drained of any real innovation. Just very radio-friendly music, which is not necessarily a bad thing (if it sells, it sells).

At nearly 40, P!nk continues to impress, putting herself above newer talent in the music industry. After a nearly five-year break from her last album, she sounds new and improved, ready to take on the world again.

Photo: Image from PinkVEVO via YouTube.com