A confusing P!nk video...

This is P!nk's new video for the rather brilliant (or is it?) new single, "Sober", and as you can probably see... it's a mess.

Perez Hilton just declared this video of the year (does he even write his own blog these days?), which is a bad enough sign in and of itself.

Basically (if you can't be bothered to watch it) P!nk stumbles around 'drunk' before having sex with herself (very Björk circa "All Is Full Of Love") and helping herself be sick in a toilet. There's an odd bit in the middle where she's in a white box that looks like it's from a completely separate music video, but apart from that it's fairly boring and makes the new Leona video look quite well done (for the record, it's not.)

This is a bit of a pity but not really because there are more important things to worry about (like whether "Miles Away" by Madge is actually going to chart anywhere other than Portugal and Basra).

We thought we'd take this opportunity to let you know how we feel about the whole P!nk Funhouse business anyway seeing as we haven't done it yet... basically, the jury is out and opinion here at the Shiny & New offices is split pretty much evenly.

In a nutshell, if you want chart-friendly pop/rock stompers in the angsty vein of her previous albums (like the lead single) then this is NOT the album for you. Chart-topper, "So What" is almost a complete red herring, stylistically, and although there are tunes a-plenty this is P!nk at her least accessible and most oblique.

If, however, you are interested in P!nk as an artist and would like to hear more of the witty and ear-catching lyrics that have endeared us to her in the past as well as some innovative music-making then WELCOME TO THE ALBUM OF HER CAREER SO FAR.

P!nk has never sounded so artistically assured, from the raw angst and baroque strings of "Sober", to the Joplinesque bittersweet rock of Mean there's more than enough to get your teeth into. The psuedo-syrupy "I Don't Believe You" belies something a lot darker and both "It's All Your Fault" and "Ave Mary A" hint at a more twisted sound closer to Incubus than Avril Lavigne.

Musically there are beautiful touches throughout. The piano in "Glitter In The Air" sounds like something out of a Tori Amos song, and the hushed, intimate guitar on "Crystal Ball" sounds like the work of a talented singer/songwriter as opposed to a major-label-backed-international-superstar...

But it's in the lyrics that P!nk really proves her genius. Before the album came out, Popjustice did a brilliant thing about the 37 or so best lyrics off of Funhouse and they couldn't have been more accuare in their selection.

Gone are the shallow and oddly hypocritical digs at 'stupid girls' and calls for 'intelligent girls' to rise up (apparently these are the same as girls who play rugby) and gone are the faux-macho posturings of her previous album I'm Not Dead. In their place are beautiful gems of lyrics that immediately standout as brilliant for example:

"It's only half past the point of no return
The tip of the iceberg, the sun before the burn
The thunder before the lightning, the breath before the phrase
Have you ever felt this way?"

This is not the work of a demanding diva begging to be taken seriously in the rather laughable and disastrous mould of Christina Aguilera or Kelly Clarkson (or even Beyoncé recently)... this is the work of a woman who has found international fame and fortune and has used her resources to make an album that speaks to her fans and yet fulfils her artistic ambitions.

This is not just a breakup record, it's a beautifully crafted rock album in the tradition of Liz Phair and Courtney Love.

It's just a pity that she has to spoil it all with a million HIDEOUS bonus tracks that completely ruin all the hard work she does trying to prove her artistic worth.