An Album with a Cause

Artists of all professions came together to support the importance of Planned Parenthood. The combination of musicians, writers and comedians brings a refreshing approach to such a complex topic on the compilation album 7-inches for Planned Parenthood.

The album opens with “Down Side of Me” by CHVRCHES, which is overall a solid track. Previously, if someone mentioned CHVRCHES an upbeat, dancey feel would come to mind, but in this track, it’s quite the opposite. This track possesses a very dreamy vibe due to the mellow nature of the vocals combined with the synthesizer. It makes for a nice opening to a rather lengthy album.

“Women’s World” by Estelle is the next track and stands out as one of the stronger songs on the entire album. Estelle has an amazing voice that could make anyone feel something no matter the setting. The lyrics of the song are even more empowering than Estelle’s voice because it is challenging the norm of this being a “man’s world.” What’s better than a powerful woman singing an empowering song? Not much, really.

One thing that really makes 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood stand out among other new releases at the moment is that it ties in strong personal stories as well. The first to appear on the album is “Casey” by dream hampton and it is the tale of how Planned Parenthood helped dream hampton through her adolescence. This story is important because it starts to paint the picture of the role that Planned Parenthood might play for individuals.

Another unique quality of 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood is that there are comedic tracks included as well. The album is comprised of artists that simply support the idea of Planned Parenthood, so it makes sense in that regard that there would be this mosaic approach. However, that does not take away from the uniqueness of the structure. The first comedic track to appear on the album is “My Ideal Exchange with a Stranger” by Big Notaro and it is almost perfectly placed to offer a comedic relief from the serious nature of the topic of Planned Parenthood.

While there is a nice flow to the album, one spoken track stood out above all other tracks and that was “Life’s Work” by Dr. Willie Parker. It appears a little later on the album but is probably one of the most important tracks on the entire album. It switches the perspective and offers the viewpoint of a doctor in the midst of the discussion.

Sarah Silverman and Jenny Slate are also featured on the album and make for a strong finish to the album. While they are both comedy tracks, they are important in the sense that it showcases two more strong women in support of Planned Parenthood.

By bringing together such great talent with a strong message, 7-Inches for Planned Parenthood is worth starting a conversation about.