Janelle Monae – fashionista, visionary, iconoclast – has finally unleashed her second album, parts four and five of her Metropolis concept series entitled The Electric Lady. The title of the new record may not be as arcanely impressive as The ArchAndroid but it successfully piggybacks off the mystique of Hendrix's legendary opus, Electric Ladyland. Monae does not do things by halves – she is all in or all out – and her agenda of choice is to push R&B to weird, scary new heights. In that regard, and many others besides, The Electric Lady is an unmitigated success. The first real song on the album carries the loaded title of 'Givin Em What They Love' and it features a genuine figure of misfit-funk royalty: the one and only Prince. When you can pull somebody as ornery and reclusive as the Purple One on your record that in itself is enough turn heads, but she is not content to stop there. With the veterans such as Prince, Erykah Badu, (executive producer) P Diddy on one hand and newcomers Miguel, Solange Knowles, Esperanza Spalding on the other Monae is straddling across many generations of innovators at once.
It is impossible to separate Janelle
Monae from her larger-than-life persona. Through interviews, photo
shoots, music videos, and the albums themselves you simply cannot
tell where the woman ends and the character begins. She is playing
everyone like a well-tuned fiddle – the fans, the press, the
critics, everyone. And musically she is a revelation at every turn.
One minute she is stirring the infectious femme funk of 'Q.U.E.E.N',
the next she is crooning like a songbird Sinatra ('Primetime'). Her
transition between all of these modes is not only seamless but her
dedication to the material is never less that fierce. Even at her
most commercially friendly this is still powerfully uncompromising
music. Her new single is the dance-floor baiting 'Dance Apocalyptic',
the spiritual successor to Outkast's 'Hey Ya'. This tune is
guaranteed to takes asses off of chairs and send bodies jiving with
reckless abandon. “I really really wanna thank you for dancing to
the end” is not only a delicious double entendre given the song's
title but also the best party-going call to arms in years.
The gooey middle of the album trades in
the rolling punches of momentum for a chance to sprawl outwards and
seduce the listener even further into this world. 'Ghetto Woman'
makes for a gaudy electro-pop diversion and the dreamy 'Look Into My
Eyes' is a dead-ringer for a 1960s theme sci-fi theme song. Then on
'Sally Ride' Monae once again adopts her best Andre 3000
singer/songwriter hybrid (think The Love Below's 'Prototype'
meets Tina Turner). The set rounds out with two songs that are so
well constructed they have “classic timeless appeal” stamped all
over them. I dare you to listen to 'Dorothy Dandrige Eyes' and 'I
Want an Experience' back-to-back without wondering if you have heard
them before. It's not because they are generic, far from it, but
rather that they speak to eternal soul of … well, soul music with
an unshakable authenticity. They could have emerged from some lost
smooth jazz from the 70s or 80s rather than an ambitious 27 year old
savant recording in 2013.
Even excluding the three skit
interludes and the two instrumental 'Suite Electric Overtures' (which
you absolutely should not overlook) the album still boasts
fifteen proper songs. That is a long time to sit and absorb music,
even when it is this good. And what of those interludes? Rather than
the stoned comedy that hip hop albums have made us come to expect,
Monae allows these non-music tracks to further the album's story and
flesh out the universe she is creating. They take the form of radio
pieces espousing the virtues of android love, preaching non-violence
against robo-haters, and advertising a host of mechanical fun and
games. If a few tracks were cut it certainly would make The
Electric Lady a more streamlined listening experience. Still,
Monae does whatever the hell Monae wants to do and it is one of her
best qualities. This is an album that packs in highs, lows, and a
roller-coaster thrill ride covering everything between the two.
Rating: A-
Recommended tracks: Q.U.E.E.N, Dance Apocalyptic, Givin Em What They Love
No comments:
Post a Comment