Janelle Monáe’s fourth studio album explores the concept of pleasure and then some (Picture: Mason Rose)
It’s near impossible to hear Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure without involuntarily adjusting your internal rhythm to the sultry pulses oozing out of the stereo.
Returning with her fourth studio album, the eight-time Grammy nominee has added her submission for the official sound of this summer and well, we’d be lying if we said she didn’t have a toe in the running.
The 37-year-old Kansas City native began her sexually charged body of work with an anthem outlining her self-love journey set to the backdrop of sounds associated with a passionate, hot summer’s night.
Float made for a confident entrance into a musical collection that wouldn’t come up for air throughout its 14 tracks and set the tone for a provocative playlist that would provide all the vibes ahead of a night on the town.
Building steamy tension through anticipatory composition and slow crescendos, Janelle got things going and as one jazzy, suave sound flowed into the next, she invited the listener to abandon their inhibitions and sink into the velvety tones of the brass-backed drum machines.
The run-on formatting of the album meant the party never had to stop and for a little over 30 minutes, our ears were continuously treated to the fiery sounds and up-tempo club boppers as they exuded Janelle’s soulful musical prowess.
The new body of work is the star’s fourth studio album (Picture: Mason Rose)
The theme is an unapologetic exploration of sensual pleasure (Picture: Mason Rose)
All the frills, yet simple in its aim, the album wound and ground to the constant reggae-like hum of throbbing accompaniment while the singer switched up her calls for appreciation and raunchy fun.
When she needed a vocal break from her various choruses and verses – that featured a mixture of R&B rapping and rich singing – Janelle interestingly dropped mini songs that acted as interludes and held conversational drawls between people over the sound of the previous track’s main musical motif.
Perhaps an element she could have gone without, it slightly interrupted the listening experience as we took a split second to make sense of the particular creative process.
Then, the listener arrived at our personal favourite, Lipstick Lover and was immersed in a change in mood as the star momentarily left the purring, mysterious, gritty tones of the jazzy sections for a more traditional sunny pop beat.
The anthem still nodded to the overall electric reggaeton theme however injected some classic ideas in the tempo and lyricism that leant towards the synths and vocals of a popular chart-topper.
She last released an album in 2018, five years ago (Picture: Shutterstock)
The star incorporated nods to reggae that formulated a consistent throbbing beat (Picture: Shutterstock)
Like summer in a song, the simple yet effective bop slid back into the seductive energy of the previous tracks and the image of a smoky, hot outdoor bar after hours returned to the mind’s eye – as well as other images not for the prudish among us.
The Antebellum actress and Make Me Feel singer rounded off her non-stop singsong with two vocally impressive numbers that proved Janelle could really belt out a tune when she wanted to.
Only Have Eyes 42 emulated Big Band vibes and listeners got to enjoy the star’s raw talent as she declared her lasting devotion to an unnamed individual.
Her vocals on this one were music to the ear and dripped onto the strummed guitar chords like spicy honey as she hit all the right notes.
Ending on A Dry Red, Janelle faded out her exploration of pleasure with a gimmicky scratching effect that encouraged the listener to rewind and live the sensations all over again – something we wouldn’t necessarily object to on a fitting occasion.
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Ultimately this album was one long, sensual, feel-good vibration that changed slightly but remained largely the same track after track.
It was seductively simple, offering a sample of good old dance music with an alluring reggae twist – if chasing the night was a sound, this anthem would act as an illustrative accompaniment to the tantalising thrill.
The Age of Pleasure is available to stream now.
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