Pink is back with 'Funhouse'

When Pink released her album I'm Not Dead in 2006, she received flak for the single Dear Mr. President, in which she attacked U.S. President George W. Bush and some of his policies.

Pink returns with a new album, Funhouse, which hits stores Tuesday. The CD features the smash single So What -- a song released last month that hit the top of the charts in Canada, New Zealand and Australia and was her first solo No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

But unlike Dear Mr. President -- when she slung her arrows at a political figure from afar -- So What takes aim at the singer's separation and divorce from freestyle motocross racer Carey Hart, announced earlier this year. The two married in early 2006.

"I think it's really ironic that it's this kind of subject matter, and it's my first No. 1," Pink was saying during a promotional stop in Canada in late September.

Pretending to talk into a phone, she adds: "Thanks, Carey!"

Pink says So What originated from working with Max Martin and a friend in Stockholm. From there an "either really fun or really annoying" guitar riff evolved.

"So I sang, 'I guess I just lost my husband, I don't know where he went.' I'm like, 'That's funny, right?' And everyone was, like, (she drops her jaw for shocked expression). So I thought, 'We're onto something, because you're scared.' I just kept going. I mean, the song is a joke -- rock star with rock moves. It's so cheesy but it's so fun, too.

"I knew when I was having fun singing it in front of the mirror, and still laughing a couple of days later, that I would just leave it and see what other people thought. And I still think it's either the most annoying song I've ever heard, or it's really funny."

Pink says when Hart initially heard So What, he simply rolled his eyes but didn't put up much of a fight.

"He knew what he was getting into 61/2 years ago," she says, laughing. "I haven't got anyone else crazy. He's a really good sport.

"It's helped both of us, because we had to figure out how we could have a really, really healthy friendship. The fact we can still laugh together and piss each other off, roll our eyes at each other, throw our hands up in the air and at the end of the day it's good -- we're solid."

What's also solid is Pink's work ethic in recording each new album. She says she had 42 songs finished for I'm Not Dead before paring it down to the final track listing. And for Funhouse, she had approximately 30 to 35 songs at the ready.

"It's like getting rid of your children: 'I like that one too, but I'm going to let that one die,'" she says of choosing album tracks. "The good thing now is that different countries want extra songs and B-sides, so there's always a home for the other kids."

Musically, Funhouse is all over the place. Styles range from the strings-tinged ballad I Don't Believe You, to radio-friendly pop such as on Please Don't Leave Me and the title track, to the softer, country-leaning Crystal Ball.

Pink says the album's tone is a result of some of the turmoil she was feeling personally.

"Creating songs is my favourite part, but I've had consistent agony and joy in all of the records," she says. "I'm always defensive and a survival-oriented person. I think when I'm writing songs it's my chance to be vulnerable.

"I'm useless when I'm happy. I find a lot of other artists, painters, filmmakers, writers (are the same way). I hear that a lot. I don't find myself alone in that, that happiness is useless as an emotion."

Pink planned to spend the rest of the year promoting Funhouse, with a few one-off performances in various cities. A proper world tour starts in Europe next February, and she says she hopes to play in Canada more extensively on this one.

In the meantime, fans will have to enjoy the album and the video for So What, which features Pink not exactly driving in style.

"It was so much fun, bittersweet, but really fun," she says. "I definitely bring crazy to the table. How can you not, riding a lawnmower down Sunset Boulevard when people are flicking you off? I know how to spend my Monday morning."

As Pink is a staunch proponent of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one lingering question must be asked: Did any small animals accidentally venture into the path of the ride-on lawnmower?

"Absolutely not," she deadpans. "No animals will ever be hurt in the making of this film."

CRYSTAL CLEAR EMOTION

Of the tracks on her new CD Funhouse, Pink says one song that hits close to home is Crystal Ball. It's a number she wrote in New York with songwriter Billy Mann after polishing off a bottle of wine.

"He's like my spiritual brother, there are no niceties with us," Pink says of her working relationship with Mann. "I just walk into a room and say, 'You'll never guess what happened to me?' Then it's, 'I got this book that will make you want to kill yourself!' We go deep right away."

The song also struck a nerve with her father when he first heard it.

"The day me and (husband) Carey (Hart) split up, my dad came to hang out with me in New York and I played him that song," she says. "My dad gets really excited about music, and he had the headphones on. He was like, (shouts) 'Honey, this song is going to be a f------ hit! I love it! It's like a country f------ hit, honey!' I'm like, 'Dad, I'm right here, I can hear you.' So that's cute, I like the thought of exciting him.

"It was like that with Dear Mr. President on the last album. (Imitates her father) 'I feel like I'm back in the '60s. Don't you love being in a country where you can say these things? I fought for this.' I'm like, 'Okay, here it comes, cue Vietnam flashback.'"

Meanwhile, when she turned 29 on Sept. 8, Pink celebrated her birthday in her own unique way.

"All my musician friends came and played music for me all night song," she says. "We had burlesque dancing, magicians and we even had a big monkey cake because everybody calls me Monkey. And my mom was there and we jitterbugged, it was so much fun."

jason.macneil@sunmedia.ca