When Pinkshift released the single "Evil Eye" this past April, it wasn't accompanied by an album announcement. However, the single served as a clear signal that the Baltimore-based rockers had entered a new era. The group's first album, Love Me Forever (2022), found the band most-often grouped with pop-pop and emo acts. Their second full-length album, Earthkeeper, however, sees vocalist Ashrita Kumar, guitarist Paul Vallejo, and drummer Myron Houngbedji embrace new influences, channel a transformative connection with nature, rip through explosive breakdowns that curse state-sponsored violence, and call for renewed inspiration and collective action.
Pinkshift's pivot to a heavier "nu metal-tinged" sound, is a clear evolution from their debut. However, it's an oversimplification of Pinkshift's to view Earthkeeper as a complete overhaul or departure of the band's prior work. The album builds on their approach on Love Me Forever and 2023's Suraksha EP and infuses that scaffolding with their experiments in heavier guitar tones and drums, a greater mix of singing and screaming, and more diverse song structures. New influences from metal and hardcore influence their writing process, including Knocked Loose, Loathe, and Slipknot. Earlier cited influences Paramore and My Chemical Romance still peak through across the album, with the chugging breakdowns and guitar solos often balanced by melodic, narrative phrases and Kumar's phenomenal vocals.
Earthkeeper finds Pinkshift in pursuit of a unique sound that separates the band from many of their pop-punk or emo contemporaries. While bands don't need an excuse to get heavier (and oh how I wish more of my favorite artists would try!), the incorporation of nu metal and hardcore influences not only makes their sound heavier, but helps unleash and convey the array of emotions that inspired them. "Blood"—the first song written for Earthkeeper—for example, is ambitious in its 4-minute run-time. While the first thirty seconds may not have been out of place on Pinkshift's earlier releases, as the song progresses, it plays with unconventional song structure, a mix of vocal deliveries, maybe their most driving, assertive drum parts, and a guitar solo that I'm eager to hear live. It's a ranging yet cohesive canvas for most of the new tricks up Pinkshift's collective sleeve.
The album's sound pairs perfectly with its central themes, wherein Pinkshift reflect on experiences finding power and healing in the resilience of nature, and wonder how the protective factors nature lends can stand against collective despair and destruction. In describing the experiences and perspectives that informed Earthkeeper, Kumar recalls feeling anger "about the wildfires, feeling helpless in my body, living under the threat of capitalism, rising global conservatism, and the existential dread climate change had instilled in me permanently. And after October 7th, I couldn’t help but feel immense grief and anger over the rapid genocide in Gaza, and the rise of fascist, white supremacist rhetoric. I felt a kind of desperation, and I felt it everywhere around me. I and those around me were affected deeply and personally. So many people around me were fighting and shutting down, lost, angry, and confused. I wanted the Earth to heal me, but it felt like all I could hear was the Earth screaming."
Earthkeeper tries to make sense of the personal and collective experience of immense amount of suffering, fear, and grief. These events take a toll, and Pinkshift creates an outlet to exercise those feelings in a way that provides an immense sense of catharsis. For every song that beats against an oppressive force, another provides a reflective space to consider how you might find purpose or inspiration in that same context. Album opener "Love It Here" serves as a perfect introduction. The song grounds you in the ethos of the band as they search for meaning in promises made and accountability for justice not delivered, with Kumar screaming "you believe in what you want but what you see will always haunt you" over a breakdown that feels both invigorating and also like a warning. The record then takes off on "Anita Ride," which shoots out of the gate with a heavy, head banging groove (I'm sure I've looked a bit feral listening to this one while walking the grocery store aisles) and the song's refrain of "I feel alive" sounding like the embodiment of the energy and perseverance Pinkshift call for across the album.
"Reflection" also stands out as a tender, triumphant moment on the second half of the record. The band consider this Pinkshift's first proper love song in years, and it spills over with a sincerity and a sense of hope without losing the edge of the record's metal-influenced tone. Album closer "Something More", meanwhile, collects the sentiments developed across the album to consider what the struggle for inspiration and revitalization looks like when daily survival feels like a herculean task. Featuring a bridge that comprises my favorite riff and drum part on the album. The song serves as a confident conclusion, with the band's desire for the Earthkeeper to serve as motivation for those who feel disconnected and unsure of their capabilities to effect change crystalizes as it final scream of "I believe I was made for something more" fades out.