Natural Disaster

Bethany Cosentino

explicit

Released on 7/28/23 by Concord Records
Main artists: Bethany Cosentino
Genre: Alternative & Indie

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Former Best Coast frontwoman Bethany Cosentino has talked about having an old tattoo that reads "trust no one" and a new one that says "let it go." With her debut solo album, that change in attitude exudes familiar references that aren't always seen as cool but sure do feel good. The excellent "Calling on Angels" applies a sassy Linda Ronstadt delivery right down to the '70s Waddy Wachtel guitar sound. It's big, joyous, swinging fun and one of Cosentino's career bests. Catchy title track "Natural Disaster" oozes with '80s Cheez Whiz guitars and a Belinda Carlisle ease as Cosentino conflates the social-media placebo of being distracted by other people's lives with climate change dangers: "It's so much easier to focus on the things that don't involve me/ This is the hottest summer I can ever remember/ Because the world is on fire/ And, hey, if we're all dying/ Then what does it matter?/ We're a natural disaster." Credit the highly processed sound—that jangly California beach-sunset artifice—to producer Butch Walker. He does it so well, but he's also always taken care, with his own music as well as others', to let a singer's raw, true voice come through. Consentino sounds better than ever, her voice big and warm and able to knock down obstacles like some effortless gale force. On "For a Moment," she layers that power over, of all things, a sweet jangle reminiscent of "Kiss Me" by Sixpence None the Richer as she sings about living in fear but aiming to be present and not worry about what-if: "The hills behind our house/ Could literally just burst right into flames". She soars on the chorus of "Outta Time," with its countrified bounce à la early Sheryl Crow. There are jangling shades of Crow, too, on "It's Fine" and the piano ballad "Easy," which isn't so much a midlife crisis as an assessment—trying to figure out what to let go of and what to keep chasing: "I always thought I'd be a mother/ With a purpose to discover/ But the clouds cover me." "I've Got News for You" is as tender and vulnerable-not-weak as the Bette Midler classic "The Rose." "A Single Day" embraces a laid-back country feel, while "My Own City" picks up the '60s girl-group vibe that fueled early Best Coast songs. Tellingly, Cosentino has said that the band is on pause "indefinitely" because "Life is too short to not give yourself what you feel you need and want." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

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Natural Disaster

Bethany Cosentino

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Natural Disaster