Hear Me Out: Ariel Pink, 'Black Ballerina'

Ariel Pink is no stranger to weird music, but “Black Ballerina” is a brazen alternative to the more traditional, radio-ready single. In the past, his more esoteric songs have been buried lower down on his tracklists. Although the leading single off of Pink’s previous album was a cover of the poppy ’70s love song “Baby,” “Black Ballerina” is a much darker track, discussing the stripping industry with a sinister approach. Ariel Pink’s latest single is a bizarre yet catchy song that becomes inaccessible and offensive at times.

Its vocal melody and instrumentation are strong. The beat is pounding and interesting, with an ’80s feel to it. The singing is not particularly difficult or impressive in range, but it has a unique and compelling rhythm. The song is very effective at establishing a certain mood—a bouncy yet seedy feeling that makes it almost kitsch.

But the track is marred by speaking interludes that attempt humor but come off as tasteless and misogynistic. During one such section, a man who sounds like a pirate takes naive and worried teenager Billy to “the number one strip club in L.A.,” where he tells a dancer, “I like your areolas, baby” and is promptly kicked out. Lyrics like “juicy Belladonna” and “c’mon, don your doggie collar” directed at the dancers are objectifying and crude. The subject of the song is especially inappropriate considering Pink is currently taking heat for several comments that many consider sexist, a controversy that was reignited when Grimes accused him of “delusional misogyny” for his rude comments about Madonna.

“Black Ballerina” has musical potential when it comes to production, but extraneous elements like hazy verses and creepy spoken interludes alienate the listener.

“pom pom” is out Nov. 18 via 4AD.