Like most women going through heartbreak, Sallie Ford is anguished. She’s distressed and the feminist in her let that anger soar as she penned her emotions down the way a songwriter would. In Untamed Beast, the sophomore offering from Portland-based singer, she opens up. The opening garage-soul number “They Told Me” sets the tone to the record as Ford sings in that raw soulful vocal of hers where she keeps the record straight: ‘Never gonna apologize for being so intense / How the hell would that making sense?’

Staying true to the band’s signature ‘50s-inspired rock‘n soul sound, the follow up to 2011’s Dirty Radio sees the band mature as they get sassier in an energetic, empowering, feel-good record. The album builds up with the rollicking goodness of “Party Kids” and its addictive reassuring refrain of ‘Honey I can handle it’ that will automatically get you into sing-along mode. And as the words get bolder, the mischievous Sallie Ford appears as she sings in ultimate swagger, ‘I can fuck, I can drink and I don’t care what you think.’

With one irresistible track after another, you’ll realize that its not just great songwriting or solid musicianship that uplift your Untamed Beast experience. The moment Sallie Ford opens her mouth to sing that first line of the album; you know exactly what you’re getting. That smooth and raspy, rich yet raw voice that resembles a vocal crossover between Ella Fitzgerald and Joan Jett, tells you you’re listening to magic. Ford’s vocal breakthrough is definitely on the tenth track “Rockability,” which sees this prolific front woman gets edgier and raspier as her rocking soulful voice found solitude in this rock ‘n roll number.

After ten tracks of bad decisions, endless rage and reminiscing, and outright girl power, the record gets its much-awaited intimate closure. On “Roll Around,” Ford turns mellow as she bares her heart in this acoustic number that sums up every broken woman sincerest desire: ‘Cause I just wanna roll around in bed with you / whether that’s romantic, well that’s your point of view’.

Raw and uncensored (nudity on the album cover says it all), aggressive and fun; Untamed Beast is another testament of a solid post-breakup record released in the Adele-soul era… complete with a in-your-face kind of attitude, minus the embellishment that only real women (and men) would be able to handle.