Sometimes bands create an album so creatively stellar that it leaves its mark on who they are as artists, such is the case with Skunk Anasie and their 1999 album Post Orgasmic Chill (Virgin Records) that transcended genres as well as eras of music. But Skin does not care how big they were in the past, she presses forward on their new album The Painful Truth (FLG Records), disregards being defined by anything to reinvent what the band is about. The song This is Not Your Life” proves Skin is in fine voice, even as an older wiser artist.

By the time it gets to “Shame,” things have mellowed into a shimmering pop pulse, with electronic elements becoming hard to decipher from where guitars are plugged into amps. At the end of the day, the song is so good that it does not matter much to me how they got here. It does need to be said that if you still need this band to be the precursor to Nu-Metal, things have changed. They do not conform to any one genre as “Lost and Found’ could have been plucked from a musical. Skin’s voice waltzes over a piano line moving with a simpler pop beat.  They gain more momentum when the guitars tease a chorus.

It might take a few listens for “Cheers”  more simplistic rock approach to click with you. The pace gets more energetic, but like the bulk of the album, nothing is hard rocking. “Shoulda Been You” has a dub-tinged feel to its Reggae-inspired time signature on the verses before it brings a more proto-punk feel to the chorus. The dramatic pop feel of “Animal”  could have just as easily been a Lady Gaga song. Regardless, it is a display of effective songwriting. Unlike mainstream pop artists, there are no teams of two dozen songwriters trying to cater to algorithms and focus groups. This is just what poured out from their hearts in an organic manner. 

There is a nineties feel to the guitar riff leading into “Fell in Love.” That finds Skin’s vocals floating around it. Things get weird on the chorus, in an almost David Bowie-like manner. The electro pop of “My Greatest Moment” creates an interesting atmosphere that is not going to be found on the radio in America, since it’s not garbage. “Meltdown” is an odd choice to close the album with, as it’s more of a ballad. Skin gathered her crew to make a very impressive pop album, which is not might not be what you would expect from this band, but is still reasonably true to who they are. The most important part of this is that they pulled this off and made a better pop album than most pop artists are doing today.

Buy the album here:
https://ffm.to/skunkanansietpt

9 / 10
WIL CIFER
Follow his work here: