Skunk Anansie: The Painful Truth review – a raw triumph of reinvention and resilience

(FLG)
On their first LP in almost a decade, made as two members were treated for cancer, the rockers shrug off their 90s heyday with an experimental mindset

Almost 30 years after Weak gave the London band a global smash, Skunk Anansie’s “painful truth” is facing up to middle age, parenthood, the loss of a longstanding manager, fears that their best days were behind them and two members being diagnosed with cancer. Recorded with drummer Mark Richardson in recovery and bassist Cass undergoing chemotherapy, their first album in nine years confronts such issues with candour and defiance. Opener An Artist Is an Artist stridently lays down the manifesto: over an infectious collision of electro-pop and post-punk, singer Skin insists that a true creative will not be denied by ageing or menopause. The vocalist subsequently addresses challenges ranging from the hedonistic rock lifestyle to her own family history.

Musically, producer David Sitek of TV on the Radio has urged them to throw off the shackles of their 90s rock sound and be unafraid to go wherever experimentation takes them. Songs hurtle through electronic rock, ska, dub and even tinkling pianos as moods shift from urgent to ethereal. Singer Skin digs deep into her personal well for Shame (“I got the love from my mother, the pain from my dad”), but allows a moment of euphoria on the catchy My Greatest Moment. The album’s sense of emotional investment and creative rejuvenation reaches a sublime apex with the closing track, Meltdown. Skin’s delicate vocals give the song about a lonely breakdown a raw, disarming beauty.