Janelle Monae impressed many with her EP Metropolis: The Chase Suite and now she returns with her first full-length release The ArchAndroid. Monae tackles a wide variety of styles on this release from R & B/soul to rock, pop, and electronic. While it could have been a disjointed mishmash of an album, instead it's wonderful from start to finish. The ArchAndroid is endlessly creative and marks the official arrival of a unique voice in music.
The ArchAndroid continues the sci-fi concepts found on Metropolis: The Chase Suite, but does so in a more subtle way. It's not required for someone to have heard that EP in order to enjoy this new release. The album is split into two suites with each one beginning with a classical music overture. The songs flow smoothly from one to the other, meaning that this album is best listened to in order. However, the suite structure frees the listener from listening to the entire album in one sitting.
If there's one word to describe Janelle Monae musically, it would be fearless. She is absolutely comfortable doing whatever she wants to do on this album whether it turns out great or not. The first proper song on the album is "Dance or Die," featuring poet/artist Saul Williams. Monae only sings in the background and during the chorus on this song. For the rest of it, she adopts a speedy flow somewhere between rap and spoken word poetry. It's a gutsy move for her vocal introduction to listeners to be something like that.
Monae takes more chances like that throughout the album. "Come Alive (War of The Roses)" and "Mushrooms & Roses" are back-to-back rock songs. Both tracks draw their influences from classic rock as opposed to what's popular today. "Come Alive" is the more upbeat of the two with Monae in full rock singer mode. "Mushrooms & Roses" is more of a standout with its stoned-out feel, vocal distortions, and guitar solo. "Make The Bus" featuring Of Montreal goes in a completely different direction. It's a nice piece of electronic pop with a little bit of a Prince vibe and high-pitched vocals.
Article comments
1 - Marcus Miller
Janelle is HOT... period. You all should check out her fraternal twin (musically) named WONKACHILD... I've been following Janelle since singing in ATL college parks... and WONKACHILD reminds me of her in those early times... GO TO YOUTUBE and check out "Janelle Monae - OZ REMIX' it features Wonkachild (both he and Janelle are from Kansas City)... they blend WAYYYYYY TO well.
2 - amr
This woman is an incredible artist and The ArchAndroid is a must-have! I have both albums and she blows my mind away each and every time I listen to them!