Sara Bareilles returns to pop with a bang
Fans of Sara Bareilles the pop star had to wait quite a while for her big return. The singer-songwriter released her most recent proper studio album The Blessed Unrest back in 2013, while her performance of the tracks of the Waitress musical dropped as a record in 2015. Ever since Bareilles has been busy with said musical on the Broadway stage, which is also coming to London soon. Luckily Sara found time in her busy schedule to be a pop star again! She just kicked off a brand new album campaign with the lead single ‘Armor’.

‘Armor’ turns out to be an outspoken anthem to voice the struggles women go through on a daily basis. To underline her message, she questions the meaning of the story of Adam and Eve in the bible, asking: “How did Eve end up with all the damn blame?” Bareilles makes clear she ain’t here for ‘dirty looks and kitty cat calls’ and ensures us ‘only the little boys tell you they’re a big man’ while paying tribute to the strong women that came before her. In similar logic to Christina Aguilera’s ‘Fighter’, Bareilles concludes that all the men who doubted her, made her work harder and made her stronger.

But what about the music!? ‘Armor’ is a piano and drums based midtempo tune with a long, but satisfying build. The chorus comes around for the first time when we are over a minute into the song, but it hits hard enough to keep us hooked. Bareilles never fails to impress us with stunning melodies and ‘Armor’ is no exceptation. She is just such a skilled songwriter! Vocally she delivers too, with a more bold attitude, hitting some seriously big notes. Especially the high note she does in the middle-eight when she sings about being a phoenix is quite the spine tingling moment. Sara Bareilles did every single thing right with this powerful comeback single!