Christina Perri’s second album, “Head or Heart” adds fuel to her already burning and inspirational flame of stardom. The Philadelphia native’s second album, released April 1, comes just 4 years after her piano ballad “Jar of Hearts” was featured on a June 30, 2010 episode of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance. With over 100,000 downloads during its first two weeks, the breakthrough hit cracked the Billboard Top 40 and landed Perri a deal with Atlantic Records 21 days later.
Perri’s sophomore album is almost a replica of her first. A combination of grand strings and piano orchestrations together with Perri’s vocal tone are all too familiar of “Lovestrong,” her first album released in 2011. The sameness in beats gives Perri’s second album its unoriginal quality and a predictability to all 13 of its songs.
The album’s lead single, “Human” gives everyone something to relate to, as she sings about the emotional sacrifices of love and the tolerable limits of its pain.
The emotional intensity reflected by the singer-songwriter’s personal lyrics make up for the album’s stale rhythms. The delicacy of Perri’s voice coupled with her unmatched range redeem the album. Songs like “Trust” and “I Believe” remind the listener why the 28-year-old pop artist shot to fame so quickly. She sings about the “trail of pain left behind” by trust and love, and advises her listeners that “scars turn into beauty.”
Given the album’s omnipresence of heartbreak, it’s no wonder Perri titled the album “Head or Heart,” suggestive of the battle between her head and heart in previous relationships. The intrinsically raw lyrics that dominate each one of her lovelorn ballads shine a bright light on the wounds that influenced Perri to write such heartfelt songs. However predictable the messages are, Perri’s songs allow us to feel her every feeling and emotion alongside her.
Perri sings about her decision to move from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in “Burning Gold” and Ed Sheeran joins her on the “Be My Forever” track, both songs that stick out like a sore thumb on “Head or Heart.” The upbeat, feel good vibes of the songs stray far from the melancholy tone that characterizes Perri’s first and second albums, a quality which made her single “A Thousand Years” suitable for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.
Still, the happy songs are a breath of fresh air and a nice break from the intense sadness that Perri’s songs usually convey.
RECOMMENDED: Everyone can relate to the emotionally raw lyrics in “Head or Heart.”