When it was announced that Janelle Monáe had been secured to play this year’s Electric Picnic, Irish tweeps whipped up such a churn of back-and-forth squeals and OMGs that I was surprised the Fail Whale himself didn’t turn up to the party. Janelle Monáe is big news. Young, ambitious, sharp and soulful, it’s not a stretch to wonder if she could be the most credible event in urban music this decade. But wondering is one thing; painting Monáe as the Saviour Of All Pop is quite another.
Not that it doesn’t seem to be working for Monáe’s camp - we seem more than happy to have the hype slam around us in walls of strained awesomeness we’re not encouraged to peep around. Janelle Monáe is wonderful! Janelle Monáe is uber-talented. JANELLE MONÁE IS THE SECOND COMING! Which is why this review of debut, full-length album The ArchAndroid comes so late - I’ve found it very difficult to listen to the lady with any degree of impartiality, so grating the press releases, so fawning the profiles.
Are they deserved, though?
Make no mistake: Janelle Monáe is talented. She’s got a wonderful voice, and a clear vision of what she wants to achieve and how she wants her fans to feel when they listen to her music. And The ArchAndroid is quite the accomplishment, flowing from choppy, smart electronica (Dance Or Die), to bonkers indie-punk (Make The Bus), to sweet soul with a strikingly traditional pedigree, but future-bound, all the same (BaBopBye Ya). It’s a journey, and, pretty much without exception, a triumph. I wouldn’t sneer at anyone who cautiously gave it an early nomination for album of the year. The problem with The ArchAndroid is that it’s very difficult to love.
And the problem with that conclusion is that it’s based entirely on the hyperbolic praise drummed up by Bad Boy / Atlantic Records (there is a helluva lot of money behind The ArchAndroid, as its slick production and augmented heart will testify). This is no stunningly natural debut by one girl and her voice. There’s very much a feeling of there being a Janelle Monáe Machine - of which there’s fuck all wrong, it’s just that you need to chance a bigger leap to connect to this music. This is wonderful stuff, but like the futuristic concept behind The ArchAndroid, it’s more for admirin’ than identifyin’ with.
