There are many reasons for one-hit wonders to raise their heads to try for a second shot. Often it’s a big tax bill or an expensive divorce that’ll get them back out on the showbiz circuit. But one thing is abundantly clear in the case of Linda Perry, former frontwoman of 4 Non Blondes, whose one-off megahit was 1993’s What’s Up: she absolutely does not have to put out a solo album to cash in on nostalgia.
In the intervening years, she has become one of the world’s most successful writers of pop hits, working her magic for everyone from Pink to Miley Cyrus to Arianna Grande. So the release of her first solo album in more than 25 years is a genuine passion project.
Her biggest songwriting success, Beautiful, was a monumental hit for Christina Aguilera in 2002 and has been a standard in karaoke bars and TV talent shows ever since, and Perry’s choice to reclaim it as her own here is telling. Sung by a woman in her 60s, its theme of self-worth in the face of criticism packs a much more mature punch earned by decades of experience. It also sets the tone for the rest of the album, despite being hidden away in the middle of the lengthy tracklist.
As you’d expect, Let It Die Here is a supremely classy and highly polished affair. Immaculately crafted, played and produced, it’s classic AOR with just enough grit to her voice to keep it interesting.
That bellow that forghorned its way through 1993 is present and correct in the otherwise thoughtful and reflective Stupid Yellow Kite, while elsewhere she glides from hazy West Coast pop-rock to a good old country heartbreaker on Is That All You Got. There’s burnished blues and jazz instrumentals, a dark Mardi Gras swinger in the shape of the title track, unfolding into a two-hander with the instrumental Mourning, in which she lets rip on guitar in a wave of unspoken fury. And Feathers In A Storm is the 80s Fleetwood Mac hit that never happened – it’s got the whirling silhouette of Stevie Nicks all over it.
At 17 tracks, in truth it’s a bit of a slog, and it may prove too much of a smooth ride for many. But it’s fascinating to discover the woman who put her words in so many pop-star mouths putting her own strengths and vulnerabilities on display for the world to see.
