Monáe has been releasing albums that blend R&B, pop and rap since 2007 — that is the artist’s first since 2018. Lately, Monáe has appeared within the movies Moonlight, Hidden Figures and Glass Onion.
TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
That is FRESH AIR. Janelle Monae has been releasing albums that blend R&B, pop and rap since 2007. And in recent times, she’s established herself as an actor in movies like “Moonlight,” “Hidden Figures” and the vastly widespread Netflix movie “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Thriller.” Nicely, now she’s again together with her first new album since 2018. And rock critic Ken Tucker says its title, “The Age Of Pleasure,” is the essential key to the themes and sound of this new assortment.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “THE RUSH”)
JANELLE MONAE: (Singing) I look into your eyes, and I get that rush possibly ‘trigger tonight you are gonna be my crush. I go searching, and I get that rush possibly ‘trigger tonight you are gonna be my – ah. Pores and skin to pores and skin…
KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: From the second Janelle Monae started her new album by rapping, I am feeling a lot lighter, I float, I used to be drawn in by this utterly disarming assortment referred to as “The Age Of Pleasure.” It doesn’t matter what temper you are in, it dissolves any resistance you might have about giving in to its pleasure, its seductiveness, its glowing positivity.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PAID IN PLEASURE”)
MONAE: (Singing) I would like my love made to measure, measure. I wish to really feel how you’re feeling round me. I do not want cash or treasure, treasure. Spend your high quality time on me. Spend all of it on me, all on me, all on me, all on me, all on me. Spend all of it on me, all on me, all on me, all on me. Child, should you pay me in pleasure, I’ma preserve it coming ceaselessly. Child, should you pay me in pleasure, I’ma preserve it coming, coming, come, come, coming. Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure. Yeah, child, pay me in pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure.
TUCKER: Monae’s earlier album, the grandly bold “Soiled Pc,” got here out in 2018, the identical 12 months as the primary “Black Panther” film and crammed with an analogous form of Afrofuturism. Monae’s model crossed the science fiction of Octavia Butler with the pop eclecticism of Stevie Surprise. In distinction to this, “The Age Of Pleasure” is deliberately smaller-scaled, extra intimate, in some methods extra low-key and lo-fi. Take heed to the usage of an acoustic piano on this tune referred to as “Solely Have Eyes 42.” It is as if Thelonious Monk walked in to plink out a few chords to supply the tune with its hook.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “ONLY HAVE EYES 42”)
MONAE: (Singing) I like to like with my eyes closed. I strive to not lead with my ego. All the pieces occurred in slo-mo, however all of us smiled and mentioned, it is all proper. ‘Trigger you are the one. You are the one. Double the enjoyable, triple the time for love. You are the one. You are the one. You suck the phrases from my tongue. That is once I knew I solely, I solely, I solely have eyes for 2. I solely have eyes for 2. I solely, I solely, I solely have eyes for 2.
TUCKER: The undulating rhythm of that tune is typical of the vary of sounds and kinds Monae makes use of with such serene confidence. She faucets into genres native to Africa and the Caribbean, in addition to American R&B. Take heed to the best way she deploys a punchy Afrobeat horn part to jumpstart the tune “Know Higher.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “KNOW BETTER”)
MONAE: (Singing) You met your match, they usually know higher. I do know you strive arduous, however they know higher. No one love you want me, and you understand higher. No one do it like me, and you understand higher. You strive the quick wine, however the gradual higher. I do know you quick wine, however the gradual higher. Na, na, na, na. Na, na, na, na.
TUCKER: Because the title “The Age Of Pleasure” suggests, the songs right here describe the lifetime of a sybarite engaged within the pursuit of sensual happiness. That sounds easy, but it surely’s not. Monae is aware of that as a nonbinary individual of coloration, the in search of of enjoyment is at all times difficult and even impeded by cultural and political historical past. Thus, this album serves as a form of affirmative aggression, an insistence that the artist goes to dwell and make her artwork precisely as she pleases. You’ll be able to come alongside, however do not get in her manner.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LIPSTICK LOVER”)
MONAE: (Singing) Lipstick lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover. My lipstick lover, lover, lover. I like lipstick on my neck. It let me know I am your No. 1 choose. I like lipstick on my neck. Fingers round my waist so you understand what’s coming subsequent. I wish to really feel your lips on mine. I simply wanna really feel…
TUCKER: At one level, Janelle Monae name-checks David Bowie. And I think she could also be pondering of his “Let’s Dance” interval, that second within the Eighties when he teamed up with producer Nile Rodgers to say, in impact, the world goes loopy, so let’s dance. Monae is refashioning that sentiment to suit our present second. She’s made a celebration file that takes pleasure severely.
MOSLEY: Ken Tucker reviewed Janelle Monae’s new album, “The Age Of Pleasure.” On tomorrow’s FRESH AIR, revisiting powerful questions concerning the daybreak of the nuclear age. Author Evan Thomas examines the choice to drop atomic bombs on two Japanese cities to finish World Battle II, exploring the ideas and motivations of U.S. army commanders and Japanese leaders decided to combat to the bitter finish. I hope you possibly can be a part of us.
(SOUNDBITE OF THELONIOUS MONK’S “JUST YOU, JUST ME”)
MOSLEY: FRESH AIR’s govt producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and opinions are produced and edited by Amy Salit, Phyllis Myers, Sam Briger, Lauren Krenzel, Heidi Saman, Ann Marie Baldonado, Therese Madden, Thea Chaloner, Seth Kelley and Susan Nyakundi. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Roberta Shorrock directs the present. For Terry Gross, I am Tonya Mosley.
(SOUNDBITE OF THELONIOUS MONK’S “JUST YOU, JUST ME”)
Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional info.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This textual content is probably not in its ultimate type and could also be up to date or revised sooner or later. Accuracy and availability could differ. The authoritative file of NPR’s programming is the audio file.
