Fact-Checking the Lore: the True Story Behind P! Nk's 'We're Not Broken Just Bent'
Tracking the vocals proved just as tense as the initial conceptual pitch. P!nk tracked her primary vocals in Los Angeles under Jeff Bhasker’s direction, delivering an unpolished, chest-voice belt designed to sound like a voice on the edge of cracking.
Ruess recorded his parts separately before joining P!nk to harmonize on the final refrains. In later interviews, Ruess confessed that he had never envisioned himself as a commercial pop duet partner. He worried the track would compromise his indie-rock credibility following the crossover triumph of Fun. P!nk eventually tricked him into laying down a preliminary guide vocal, promising that if he disliked the finished product, she would replace him with another artist.
Once Bhasker mixed the two voices together, the chemistry was undeniable. Ruess’s theatrical, soaring tenor provided the perfect foil to P!nk’s raspy, grounded alto. The dual vocal track underscored the lyrical theme: two people singing past each other until finding harmony on the central revelation that their bond was not beyond repair.
