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6.5/10
Janelle Monae, an American R&B singer, has returned with a brand new album following her critically acclaimed 'Dirty Computer', an album that challenges social norms and embraces imperfection. Janelle returns with a brand new character on 'The Age Of Pleasure', which is one driven by sex and romantic themes, far from who she was on 'Dirty Computer'.
"Float" opens up the album with a trippy beat, a catchy chorus, and a nice flow from Janelle in her verses; it's a bold and solid opener. "Champagne Shit" offers up nice self-confidence in the lyrics and is instrumentally a really vibey and dancey track, but overall comes off as lyrically repetitive. "Black Sugar Beach" comes off as a slight reprise of "Champagne Shit", offering up a smooth transition from it.
"Phenomenal" was the first track in the first half of the album I really got down with as it has a bold and surprising change in sound from the previous two tracks (almost sounding lazily placed, however). It reminds me of something from Beyonce's "RENASSAINCE" as it's a dance-sounding track with a catchy chorus, and I love that. "Haute" is a fun track with confident horns, but as a whole is too short, not leaving much of an impact, with the tracks "Pain In Pleasure" and "A Dry Red" having the same issue--they have solid instrumentals and production but are unsatisfying to listen to due to the short length.
"Lipstick Lover" was the first track that seemed to have a stripped-back instrumental, making it bland and forgettable. I found the chorus uninspired and boring as well: "Lipstick lover, lover, lover, lover, lover". "The Rush", however, was the exact opposite, with Janelle and Amaarae combining beautifully in the chorus along with the mysterious yet dancey instrumental. Overall, the track is a vibe. "Water Slide" contains ok harmonies, but is lyrically lacking, overall coming off as a low-effort track. "Know Better" is the opposite in the sense that this time the instrumental was hollow with not much to offer up. I enjoyed CKay's verse, but other than that, it's forgettable. "Only Have Eyes 42" has a nice summery production style with bright strings and pretty harmonies in the chorus. Lyrically, it's also cute, with Janelle expressing how she only has "eyes for two", a clever way to express your love for someone.
All in all, this project is full of hits and misses; it's inconsistent. After being in the studio for five years, you'd think you would be cooking something up that's of the same caliber as 'Dirty Computer' or 'ArchAndroid'.
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