Album Review: Skunk Anansie – The Painful Truth
3 min read
Legendary UK band Skunk Anansie are firmly unique in the landscape of 90s alternative music. Led by lead singer and songwriter Skin, the group amassed huge success between 1995 and 2000, touring the world and release three well-received albums. In the years since, there have been reunions and personal loses, solo careers and extensive tours, all culminating in latest release The Painful Truth after 9 years of album silence.
An Artist Is An Artist kicks off the album with abrasive synth and angular guitar riffs, reminiscent of Bloc Party, but with a calm acceptance in Skin’s vocal delivery. The song is a reminder that an artist is always an artist despite their age, a thought that a band of thirty years and change must have present in their collective consciousness. More of Skin’s anger is released in the following verse, commenting on critics and fans alike who talk down to artists as though they have any say on what they create. This Is Not Your Life and Shame let the synths take the lead, the former building off a groovy bass line and drum machine groove, while the latter relies on Skin’s powerful voice and harmonies to craft a gorgeous and poignant ballad. Lost and Found is arguably the poppiest record on the album, Skin’s voice opening the song and crafting an intriguing melody before pianos and drums take the song to new heights, elevated further by the guitars and bass that join later.
Juxtaposing this tune is Cheers, an out and out rock song complete with driving drums and urgent guitars. Shoulda Been You leans into reggae territory, upstroke guitars and noises heard in dub tracks jumping in and out before the song explodes into a rocking chorus. Animal returns to the electronic sphere, Skin providing one of her strongest performances, while Fell In Love With A Girl is an amalgamation of all of these sounds, wrapped up in a peculiar song about intersecting relationships. My Greatest Moment melds noise and dubstep into a gritty and uplifting track, before Meltdown brings things to a close with pianos and bare vocals, Skin delivering another stellar performance.
It’s an almost disappointingly short record for a group that hasn’t had a full length release in nearly a decade, but every moment on The Painful Truth is a perfectly executed and greatly enjoyable listen. The amount of genre-defying tunes and stylistic shifts are as surprising as they are excellent, each change being manoeuvred expertly, and never taking away from the core of the song. This works as a brilliant starting point for new fans of the band, as well as veteran listeners who have been patiently waiting for something new.
Writer and Musician, Ryan Bulbeck has been published with a number of online publications, and has worked with a myriad of great artists, both as a performer, and as a producer. His most recent band The 295 are still active, playing shows around the UK.
