Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters - Vintage Rebel X Trauma Bond (2025)

“Two faces have I,” sang Bruce Springsteen in the last century, and as so often, The Boss was right when he talked about the duality of existence. If you watch Beth Blade and the Beautiful Disasters, she’s all swagger, confidence, and talent. But if you followed her on X, you’d have seen the self-doubt and worse creeping through her posts.

If you know her story, you’ll understand why. And that’s what makes “Vintage Rebel x Trauma Bond” so special — she lays it all bare.

“Vintage Rebel,” the first half, kicks in with “Never Let Go,” a slice of pure arena rock. That’s all it wants to be. Sure, the lyrics cut deeper than simple frivolity, but this is the kind of thing that lets Stereophonics fill two nights in Birmingham.

The rest of “Vintage Rebel” struts just as hard. “You Only Love Me When You’re Drunk” drips with attitude, while “Down The Front” is a cowbell-drenched blast of sass with a solo to match.

The retro feel runs through “I Still Want You” too — if you’re a sucker for a power ballad, get here as quick as you can.

“Over It” is Blade’s rock ’n’ roll fantasy come true, and “A Rock ’n’ Roll Romance” makes it even clearer. A duet with Gorilla Riot’s Arjun Bishma, it even throws in a sax solo.

Then comes the turn. Straight away, “Colour Of Bones” is darker — and Beth Blade’s astonishing voice carries both sides. Her voice is an instrument in itself, whether it’s guiding the defiance of “Vintage Rebel” or picking through the wreckage of “Damage” to find something stoic.

And credit too to the Natural Disasters — the band is wonderful throughout.

“Limerence” is the mirror ballad, but it’s less Heart and more ominous. “Dysmorphia” feels like the key to the whole record. Beth Blade is attractive, supremely talented — and yet here she lays her trauma out in stark, startling fashion. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how we see her, only how she sees herself.

Parts of this are harrowing. “You Never Screamed” takes us deep into the psyche of an abuse victim. If it’s unsettling, that’s exactly the point.

“Eclipse” is probably the heaviest song she’s ever done. “I’m waiting for the moment,” she sings. Surely, it’s now.

This is big, beautiful, and brave. If these really are the two faces of Beth Blade, then she’s not just showing them — she’s owning them. And both shine.