The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe is an optimist with purpose. On her debut, she plays an android in a dystopian future (detailed on “Locked Inside”), and endangers her existence by falling in love with a human on “Oh, Maker.” Despite a downbeat story line inspired by the German expressionist classic *Metropolis*, the music brims with joy. Her Wondaland production team takes cues from James Brown and Stevie Wonder, adding classical overtures and a dazzling pop sheen to romps like “Tightrope” and “Cold War.” Monáe herself is a powerhouse singer (and rapper) with a big personality to match.
The singer/songwriter's new album is stunningly ambitious, veering from R&B to rap, pastoral British folk, psych rock, disco, and more.
The term “genre-bending” is applied pretty liberally in music, more often referring to occasional digressions from a generally homogenous sound than to sweeping stylistic oscillations. But Janelle Monáe truly earns the tag on The ArchAndroid (Suites II And III). Her sophomore album bounds among tracks that stray far…
Any misgivings about Janelle Monáe's Bad Boy deal are nullified by the briefest contact with this, an extravagant 70-minute album involving more imagination, conceptual detail, and stylistic turnabouts than most gatefold prog rock epics.
With overlong, filler-stuffed CDs hitting the market regularly by all manner of artists, the fact that Janelle Monáe presents a double-length disc that's engaging and memorable from start to finish is creditable in itself.
Pop music has found its latest superstar in the ridiculously talented Janelle Monáe, and <strong>Michael Cragg</strong> is swept away
It’s always refreshing when an entirely new talent breaks through and does so without compromising his or her artistic integrity. Janelle Monáe is one such talent. After catching the eyes and ears of Big Boi and delivering a critically-acclaimed concept EP in 2007, Monáe signed to Diddy’s Bad Boy Records, allowing her to record a
Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid review: Everything her fans had been hoping for, and then some.