![]() Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter Chastity Brown wrestles with that question in her own way on her new album, Silhouette Of Sirens, a work of brooding soul eloquence, alt-rock wiriness, atmospheric pop sweetening and folk-inflected naturalness that, at its quieter moments, has a kindred spirit in Meshell Nedegeocello's Bitter, a masterpiece of piercing introspection released at the end of the '90s. She's envisioned a musical alternative: "If resilience is the norm, is melancholy the way to disrupt it?" She emphasizes that when it's marginalized people who are doing the singing, it can have the effect of "normalizing" what they've endured socially and politically because of their race, gender, sexuality or class as "ultimately innocuous damage that they are individually responsible for overcoming." By extension, she would say that it's possible for pop-style empowerment to trivialize struggles borne out of inequality. ![]() Robin James, author of Resilience & Melancholy: Pop Music, Feminism, Neoliberalism, would describe performances that make dramatic displays of overcoming psychological, spiritual or bodily wounds as reinforcing a social hierarchy that prizes resilience. But while such songs can feel like potent, highly individualized expression, their impact can also be interpreted in vastly different ways. Pop music is an ideal vehicle for emotional catharsis - for the confessional plunge into anguish, the gathering of strength and the phoenix-like rise to empowered new heights. ![]() Chastity Brown's new album, Silhouette Of Sirens, comes out May 19. ![]()
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