Love her or loathe her, you have to give Alecia Moore credit: She’s a survivor. The singer better known as P!nk has been at the top of the pop game for nearly 20 years now. And even though she’s pushing 40, she is not only the most fearlessly and ambitiously acrobatic and athletic performer in music — she has also found a way to act her age and have her say in an ageist, sexist business that most often tries to force female artists to be bland, crowd-pleasing hit machines. Which is not to suggest that P!nk doesn’t know how to placate the masses or play the game; her eighth album Hurts 2B Human delivers all the radio-ready singles and tough-chick attitude required by pop-chart law. Naturally, they were co-created by a lengthy slate of high-powered songwriters and producers like Max Martin, Shellback, Nate Ruess, Teddy Geiger, Ryan Tedder, Greg Kurstin, Sia and Beck. And of course, there are the mandatory crossover guests from Chris Stapleton and Khalid to Wrabel and Cash Cash. But as usual, all the tradecraft and trappings and high-wattage guests don’t get in the way of P!nk’s introspective, confessional and firmly grounded lyrics about grown-up love, loss, motherhood and mortality. So what you end up with is a commercial pop disc that can entertain the youngsters even as it speaks to their parents. She keeps that up, she’ll likely stay at the top of that game for a while yet.
