Perhaps Paula Cole’s always been an SJW; go listen to her Harbinger debut; but she’s never manifested her advocacy to this degree. The war cry begins right out the gate with a call to action in the form of a bombastic speech by what sounds like an old black man. “We are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness,” he says before revealing the Revolution as a way to bring about a world utopia of “love”.

For Cole, it seems to have more to do with contemporary feminism; Shake The Sky calls for the uprising of women while Silent serves as an anthem for the so-called Me Too Movement; though she also takes on racism and other political issues. Still the album isn’t as musically radical as the aforementioned Intro might lead you to believe. Most of it sounds like Paula Cole, whatever that’s worth these days.

my rating : 3 of 5

2019