Listen Up!: P!nk, Tegan And Sara, Haley Reinhart, Liam Gallagher, Carla Bruni

International pop icon P!NK releases her seventh studio album, a collection of 13 tracks, all of which she co-wrote. Twins Tegan and Sara celebrate the 10th anniversary of their seminal album "The Con" by releasing "The Con X: Covers," 14 pro-gay artists' takes on each of the 14 songs, for charity. The former French first lady releases her fifth album, "French Touch," this month, a collection of 11 English-language covers of chestnuts from ABBA to The Clash. "American Idol" star Haley Reinhart releases her studio debut, putting a fresh twist on rock classics from the '60s. And singer Liam Gallagher releases his studio debut, 15 tracks with raucous power chords, pounding drums and wailing harmonica.

"Beautiful Trauma" (P!NK)

International pop icon P!NK releases her seventh studio album, a collection of 13 tracks, all of which she co-wrote. P!NK worked with a variety of songwriters and producers on this project, among them Steve Mac, Johnny McDaid, Max Martin, Shellback, Jack Antonoff, Julia Michaels and Greg Kurstin. She kicks things off with the title track, singing a high and breezy opening before launching into a catchy pop track singing about her imperfect love, "you punched a hole in the wall and I framed it/ I wish I could feel things like you." Heavy reverb marks P!nk's hip-hop cut "Revenge," which has a doo-wop backing track. It's a gleeful ode to taking 'sweet revenge' together, just P!nk and Eminem, who drops a soulful rap break about cheating. She sings about a man who's "just too cool" to give a shit in "Whatever You Want," her guitar anthem, strumming slowly at the end, "I feel like our ship's going down tonight, but it's always darkest before the light, and that's enough." Her excellent single "What About Us," released back in August, has her wondering about all the broken happy ever afters, and her ballad "But We Lost It" has her wondering about the nature of love, with the refrain, "the bone breaks, but it grows back stronger." P!nk muses about going back to playing with dolls in her room in the acoustic "Barbies." There's a tinge of Ed Sheeran's Irish rock to P!nk's cut "Where We Go," but she turns to short strumming on the electric guitar to add urgency to her pounding cut "For Now." One of the best songs of the album is "Secrets," a fast-paced dance cut that has P!nk singing out a stream of da-da-da-da-doo-doo nonsense that you'll be unable to stop moving your hips to. She keeps the groove going strong in her pop/dance extravaganza "Better Life," and takes us to church with "I Am Here," singing, "I am here, I've already seen the bottom so there's nothing to fear/ I know that I'll be ready when the devil is near." She sounds her rally cry in the slow "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken," and ends a powerful album with a just as powerful piano ballad, singing about listing her doubts and shames as he's sleeping. Pink takes off next March for her 2018 Beautiful Trauma Tour, playing venues across North America.
(RCA Records)

"The Con X Covers" (Tegan & Sara)

Twins Tegan and Sara celebrate the 10th anniversary of their seminal album "The Con" by releasing "The Con X: Covers," 14 pro-gay artists' takes on each of the 14 songs. The artists donating their time and energy to the project, to benefit charity. Ruth B. kicks things off with "I Was Married," with excellent harmony and an extended metaphor of magnets pulling each other together. MUNA rocks like Pat Benatar in her cover of "Relief Next to Me," singing, "I guess like I should have told you then/ The thunder moves like damn drawers slamming in my frame." English singer/songwriter Shura sings the ghostly title track "The Con," a song about ending things for good this time, probably maybe. Rapper and performance artist Mykki Blanco adds his own strange trademark to "Knife Going In," making it a creepfest as he sings in deeply distorted echo, "on the night I die, I swear I'll sleep outside your window." Massachusetts band PVRIS (Paris) delivers a chill, electro rendition of "Are You Ten Years Ago," a song that sings itself into circles. Canadian Ryan Adams rocks the house down with his synth-backed rendition of "Back In Your Head," the second track released and one of the best in the bunch. City and Colour sing high and fine on "Hop a Plane," a story about the end of a relationship, with the hook, "All I need to hear is that you're not mine, you're not mine." Electronica artist Kelly Lee Owens goes for an ambient rock rendition of "Soil Soil," which paints a sad picture of a brokenhearted fool who has "buried in my yard, a letter to send to you," but who still waits curled on the floor for your call. New York artist Jack Antonoff, aka Bleachers, brings his deep, sad voice to "Burn Your Life Down." Paramore's Hayley Williams strong mezzo-soprano chords work well on "Nineteen," a great pick for her. Sara Bareilles brings her stellar pipes to "Floorplan" as she sings of first love, "I know I'll hold this pain in my heart forever." Vegas singer Shamir sings "Like O, Like H," a song about growing up, and Trashique (Grimes X Hana) do a mellifluous version of "Dark Come Soon" with hand drums punctuating the lyrics, "(So what?) So I conned, I lied, I lied to me too." CHVRCHES delivers an excellent version of "Call It Off," with Lauren Mayberry singing "maybe I would have been something you'd be good at," all gauzy and light with lots of harmony and synthesizers. Four digital bonus tracks are included in the deluxe edition, including Cyndi Lauper singing "I just want 'Back In Your Head.'" Punk/pop girl band Bleached brings a light touch to "One Second," and queer Toronto artist Vivek Shraya, who sometimes shares the stage with the girls, sing-talks through, "I Take All the Blame." Tegan and Sara end the album with an acoustic demo version of "Miami Still." It's a great collection of covers, even more so when you realize that a portion of proceeds benefit the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which raises money for self-identified women and girls in the LGBTQ community. They take their album on The Con X: Tour this fall, moving across North America performing special acoustic arrangements of al 14 songs from the album.
(Warner Brothers Records)

"French Touch" (Carla Bruni)

The former French first lady releases her fifth album, "French Touch," this month, a collection of 11 English-language covers of chestnuts from ABBA to The Clash. This former model said that producer David Foster gave her the idea, saying that people in America would love to hear her sing in English. She kicks things off with a stripped-down, piano version of Depeche Mode's New Wave cut "Enjoy the Silence," singing, "All I ever wanted, all I ever needed is here in my arms/ Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm." She adds a lot of elan to The Clash's cut "Jimmy Jazz," the tale of an outlaw on the run, and gives Joe Strummer a run for his money, leaning heavily into the jazz-blues aspect of the song. Deep bass licks keep Ketty Lester's "Love Letters (Straight from Your Heart)" funky, and Bruni makes The Rolling Stones "Miss You" into a sultry, tropical confection. The slowed-down acoustic guitar plucking of "Winner Takes It All" is far from the raucous disco version ABBA popularized, but Bruni makes it work. The slap-strum pattern of the Patsy Cline chestnut "Crazy" would make even Willie Nelson proud, and AC/DC will go off the rails when they hear her croon "Highway to Hell" in her chanteuse voice! She's "living easy, living free, season ticket on a one-way ride." It's like those videos from the '80s when all of a sudden, an old lady starts rapping. The unexpected element will blow your mind. She gets a gypsy, Gogol Bordello sound out of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," singing how they'll "feed animals in the zoo, then later a movie, too, and then home." "Sometimes it's hard to be a woman, giving all your love to just one man," sings Bruni in her French accent. She's no Tammy Wynette, but she's still going to "Stand By Your Man." If she can't have you completely, she doesn't want you at all, in "Please Don't Kiss Me," the tune Rita Hayworth popularized in "The Lady From Shanghai." She finishes an excellent collection of hits with Henry Mancini's "Moon River," a bona fide chestnut if we ever heard one. Bruni did such a great job with this album, we're hoping other former First Ladies take a page out of her book. Can't you just see Hillary releasing a collection of Carole King covers?
(Universal Music France)

"What's That Sound?" (Haley Reinhart)

"American Idol" star Haley Reinhart releases her studio debut, putting a fresh twist on rock classics. Her 11 renditions of classic songs from the '60s were recorded on tape using vintage instruments to capture the feel of the era. "There is an undeniable connection between the late '60s and now," said Reinhart. "They're both turbulent, yet hopeful times. As I thought of what songs I'd like to reinterpret, I wanted to bring these similarities to the forefront. I also feel the urge to spread the revolutionary idea of people coming together through love and music." Three of the cuts are originals, and Reinhart kicks things off with one of these: the retro-wave "Let's Start," with its Burt Bacharach vibe and its urge to "let's start making love again." Her next cut is a funky blues cover of the American rock band Smith in "Baby It's You," which was itself a Bacharach cover. "Is it true what they say about you? They say you'll never, ever, never be true," asks Reinhart in her impassioned soprano. Just like today, "young people speaking their mind, are gettin' so much resistance from behind," sings Reinhart in her slowed-down take on Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," the de facto Vietnam War anthem. She puts the sizzle on The Box Tops' "The Letter," about how lonely days are gone. She sings high and fine in Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home." Reinhart channels Grace Slick as she sings Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit." She holds on to this dark vibe, adding pounding bass drum and sinister chords for her original tune, "Somewhere In Between." Scott Bradlee lends a hand when Reinhart goes for soulful and sultry in her take on The Beatles "Oh! Darling." Bradlee helps out again for the campy "Sunny Afternoon" by The Kinks, which is well done, but doesn't feel nearly world-weary enough. She's lazy and louche in The Turtles "You Showed Me," but employs an odd musical pacing in The Mamas & The Papas "Words of Love," featuring Bradlee. She does better with her original cut, "Bring the Love Back Home," featuring Casey Abrams. He sticks around to add harmony to The Zombies' classic cut "Time of the Season." Reinhart ends a solid collection of covers with Nancy Sinatra's ode to strong women, "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'." She'll hit the road on October 22 for an 18-show headlining U.S. tour
(Concord Records)

"As You Were" (Liam Gallagher)

Singer Liam Gallagher, formerly from Oasis, releases his studio debut, 15 tracks with raucous power chords, pounding drums and wailing harmonica. Gallagher wrote or co-wrote nearly every song on the album, collaborating with Greg Kurstin, Andrew Wyatt and Michael Tighe. With a crash of drums and wail of harmonica, Gallagher launches into his first track, "Wall of Glass." He's going to take you off his list of to-do's in the strummer "Bold," singing, "It's alright now when I wake up and I hear you say/ There's no love worth chasing yesterday." His rocking cut "Greedy Soul" has clever lyrics, as he sings about a liar, "She's got a six six six, I've got my crucifix/ She got a spinning head, like seeing Grateful Dead." Gallagher hits the high notes in the acoustic "Paper Crown," singing, "so you never been alone before and the wolf is at the door." It's reminiscent of a mid-career Beatles tune. A similar sound resurfaces later in the album, on "Universal Gleam," as he promises, "I'll give you something to shout about, I won't ever let you down." He's apologizing: his intentions were good, but he made mistakes in the mid-tempo charmer "For What It's Worth." This tune was written by Gallagher, with help from Simon Johns. His iconic vocals work for an anthem that he said was "an apology. Not to one person, but to everyone, because I'm not good at saying sorry." Gallagher goes unplugged in the guitar ditty "When I'm In Need," and goes for a rockabilly vibe in "You Better Run" promising that "I'm gonna steal your thunder, you'd better run, you'd better hide." And he rocks hard and fast in "I Get By." He wants to see that you know some places in "Chinatown" in one cut, and begs you to "Come Back to Me" in the next, a countrified rock track. He croons sweetly in "I've All I Need," but gets dark in "Doesn't Have to Be That Way," singing about a girl who's chasing rainbows, declaiming, "you give up when the game begins." He gets intense in the acoustic strummer "All My People/ All Mankind," but ends the album smooth and easy with "I Never Wanna Be Like You." Gallagher and his band will tour North America this tour, launching on November 13 in San Francisco, and moving across the heartland to East Coast show in Boston, New York, DC and Philly.
(Warner Bros. Records)