The debut solo release from the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast puts a lot of stock into the title, Natural Disaster, as she delivers pop music on the edge of Armageddon. There is a palpable fear that it is all ending throughout the record, so Cosentino just sings her heart out.
Working with producer Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran) in his Nashville studios, Cosentino reaches for the pop heights with timely tunes and lyrics which are current, but also middle of the road at times. The grooving single “It’s Fine” bounces along, well-constructed with its folk/country flourishes, and Cosentino sings strongly (as she does throughout the record), but lyrically it feels limp, or as sung, fine. “Easy” is drenched in over-the-top piano-based melodrama, while “I Hope Your Happy Now” is a dour broken-hearted wallower, that drives out to nowhere on a southern California freeway.
Better results are obtained when Cosentino burns with the climate change anger and existential energy of the title track and the upbeat pop of “Outta Time” which deploys a cool guitar solo with stomping bite. The end-of-the-world pop of “A Single Day” keeps the message moving as does the acoustic “For A Moment” which ponders if nothing is guaranteed, why try at all? The answer is draped in mandolin, guitar, and the idea of kissing and holding onto someone for a fleeting second. Maybe not utterly original, but there are worse reasons for continuing in this modern world.
“In My Own City” speaks to changing and evolving and this is another overarching process throughout Natural Disaster. Cosentino rages against modern problems/growing up, and then pulls back a bit with a tame chorus or phrase. As she sings herself, “It’s A Journey”, which on this album is a glam rock power ballad buffed and polished into modern pop while “Calling All Angels” digs heavily into a Sheryl Crow early 90’s vibe. Gone is the lo-fi fuzzy/bright rock of Best Coast, replaced by a straight-ahead country-tinged, pop effort that ends up feeling transitional for Cosentino. Moving on and breaking out on her own during troubling times, growing up with Natural Disaster, and wondering what it is all worth.
