Stars: 3/5
In 2010, a track about the sorrow of heartbreak played while the “So You Think You Can Dance” contestants performed a sincere and poignant contemporary ballet piece. This track, “Jar of Hearts,” originated from the relatively unknown coffee house singer Christina Perri. After the airing of the episode featuring “Jar of Hearts,” millions searched for and bought her track. With this achievement, Perri was able to sign a record deal with Atlantic Records and create her first album “Lovestrung.” This ballad-filled album perfectly embodied all of the issues of a broken heart. In her recently released follow up album, “Head or Heart,” she maintains the same trajectory of her debut album.
In the ten-track album “Head or Heart,” Perri struggles with the age old problem of love. Throughout the album, she battles between following the passion of her heart or the logic of her head. While she opens the album with her typical ballad, the next two tracks show some ability to range into other pop styles. In “Burning Gold,” Perri merrily proclaims her desire to escape all of her problems and begin a new life with her lover.
“I’m setting a fire to the life that I know/We start a fire everywhere that we go/ We starting fires, We starting fires/Till our lives are burning gold.” This track has all of the elements of a feel-good pop song.
The next radio friendly track is “Be my forever” featuring Ed Sheeran, whose recent collaboration with Taylor Swift was highly successful. This song evokes the distinct feelings of summer dates with one’s first love and reminisces nostalgically about blissful sunny days. The mixture of acoustic guitar, tambourine and piano provides a perfect blend of the styles of Sheeran and Perri. Another track that will probably garner radio play is “I Don’t Wanna Break.” This cheerful track easily brings to mind the warm music and lyrics of Sara Bareilles. The bright bass line, the repetitive chorus and catchy lyrics makes it a guaranteed chart- topper.
Most of the other tracks are piano ballads typical of Perri. Arguably, listeners may be tired of hearing the same spiel from Perri. Despite this, one ballad on the album is specifically notable. While “Human” is a power ballad that shows the strength of Perri’s vocal range, the sheer vulnerability of the lyrics makes it a striking song.
There is no doubt that the ballads as stand alones are touching musical pieces. However, when one listens to all of these ballads in succession in an album, the ballads begin to meld together into one long and indistinguishable song.
If you are looking for an innovative Perri that pushes her range in styles and branches into new topics, you will be sorely disappointed. Instead of looking at “Head or Heart” as a sophomore piece, you should look at “Head or Heart” as simply a continuation of her debut album in order to ensure enjoyment. Ultimately, if you are a core Christina Perri fan, then you will find this album to be relatively satisfying.
