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Trustfall

Trustfall is the ninth studio album by American singer Pink. The album was released on February 17, 2023, through RCA Records. Her first studio album since Hurts 2B Human (2019), Pink worked on the production and lyrics with Fred Again, David Hodges, Max Martin, Johnny McDaid and Shellback. The Lumineers, Chris Stapleton and First Aid Kit feature as guest vocalists. Sonically, Trustfall is a dance-pop record, with inclusion of various subgenres, such as pop rock and folk. Lyrically, it speaks of various subjects, including motivation, self-acceptance, loss and love.

Trustfall received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album reached number one in several countries, including Australia, Canada and the UK, while reaching number two in the US, becoming Pink's fifth consecutive top-two album in her home country. It was certified Gold by British Phonographic Industry.

The album's lead single, "Never Gonna Not Dance Again", achieved moderate success worldwide. The second single, "Trustfall", reached top-ten position in many European countries, while also peaking within top-twenty in the United Kingdom and Australia. To promote the record, Pink embarked the Summer Carnival and Trustfall Tour throughout 2023 and 2024.

Background

After the publication of her eighth studio album Hurts 2B Human in 2019, Pink collaborated on "One Too Many" with Keith Urban and "Anywhere Away from Here" with Rag'n'Bone Man. On May 21, 2021, the singer released All I Know So Far, a documentary chronicling Pink on her record-breaking Beautiful Trauma World Tour. The project was promoted by two new original songs "Cover Me in Sunshine" and "All I Know So Far", as well as a live album. During a 2021 interview, promoting the documentary, Pink was questioned about her next studio album. When asked about the tone of the album, she replied saying she was not sure as it was in the "early days" but that it would be "very honest".

On July 14, 2022, Pink surprise released her first single since 2021, "Irrelevant", as a protest song in response to her outrage with the overrule of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court.

From May to October 2022, Pink headlined at Bottlerock Napa Valley, Ohana Festival, and Austin City Limits, while also performing a show at Yaamava Theater in Southern California. She also played at the second Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert in Los Angeles and the Foo Fighter's Hanukkah Sessions.

Composition and production

Primarily a dance-pop album, Trustfall incorporates elements of a wide variety of sub-genres, namely pop rock, Americana, country music, and folk. Some tracks also contained military drums and the playing of solo piano and guitar stomps. Lyrically, Trustfall contains themes of self-motivation, self-acceptance, afterlife, loss and love.

In an interview with Billboard, Pink explained the meaning of the album and the recording process:

"The sequencing of this album was really important to me, in case someone does listen to it from start to finish. Because life is like this to me, it’s an emotional roller coaster and it’s a journey, and this album is that. [...] But that’s not life. Life is messy and beautiful and messy again. [...] It was three years in the making. "Lost Cause" and "Never Gonna Not Dance Again" were the two album-starters. And "Never Gonna Not Dance Again" was my reaction to adrenal fatigue, cortisol, stress. It was like, "If the world’s ending and we’re sliding sideways off our axis, I’m gonna get my roller skates. Let’s take a cocktail class online! What are we doing?" So those songs on the record were a reaction to, "I can’t care all the time. I also need to feel joy, and let that s–t run off my back."

Release and promotion

On November 18, 2022, Pink announced Trustfall on Good Morning America and its release date through her social media accounts. She stated that the album is "the best album [she] had ever made". The album was inspired by many personal events in her life including her children getting sick and her father's death. On October 6, 2022, Pink announced that she would be touring in the UK and Europe as part of her Pink Summer Carnival Tour in 2023. North American dates were announced a month later. On October 17, 2022, Pink teased the album's lead single "Never Gonna Not Dance Again" and released a snippet on social media. The song became available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify on November 4, 2022. One critic gave the song a mixed review saying they felt it was too similar to "Can't Stop the Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake. She performed the song live for the first time at the American Music Awards on November 20, 2022.

On January 18, 2023, Pink announced the album's second single "Trustfall" and released a snippet on social media. Pink appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show on February 6, 2023. On February 14, 2023, Pink released the album's third single, "When I Get There", written by Amy Wadge and David Hodges in honor of Pink's late father, Jim Moore. "Runaway" was sent to radio in Australia and Germany on July 7, 2023.

On October 13, 2023, Pink announced release of the deluxe edition of Trustfall. The new edition, which includes her past-year-single "Irrelevant", two new songs and six live recordings from the Summer Carnival Tour, was released for digital download, LP and CD purchase on December 1, 2023. She also announced the Trustfall Tour between October and November 2023 in United States as break of the Summer Carnival Tour, which will be extended to Australia in 2024.

Critical reception

Upon release, Trustfall was met with a positive response from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 71 out of 100, based on reviews from nine critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Maura Johnston of Rolling Stone wrote that the songs on Trustfall lyrically "don't shy away from irascibility or eye-rolling" but "feel like they're coming from a genuine place" and that "Pink's appeal comes from her ability to turn the everyday into the stereo-ready". Cady Siregar of Consequence found the singer "still wearing her emotions on her sleeve, keen to embrace a deep sense of vulnerability as she processes some extremely difficult events", publishing her "most overt attempt at storytelling and introspection" in her discography. However, Siregar wrote that Pink "is playing it safe" because "trying to radiate emotional honesty without the risk of coming off as slightly banal is something even the best pop stars find hard to do".

In a mixed review, Michael Cragg of The Guardian wrote that the album is "patchy but playful in places", showing a "reliably Pink", thanks to her voice, "the key element" of not "always up to scratch" materials.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with over 65% of its total made up of physical sales, becoming Pink's fourth album and her third consecutive to do so, following Beautiful Trauma (2017) and Hurts 2B Human (2019). The album also debuted at number two on the Official Vinyl Albums Chart. In Australia, the album debuted at number one on the Australian Albums Chart, becoming her seventh number-one album in the country. In the United States, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 74,500 album-equivalent units, of which 59,000 were pure album sales. This is Pink's first album since Funhouse (2008) to not debut at #1.