The debut album from Kansas soul singer Janelle Monáe is a wondrously diverse collection of songs that together reveal the story of The ArchAndroid. There's a wonderful combination of old-fashioned styles and new techniques here, all performed flawlessly by a superstar in the making.
Since releasing part one of her Metropolis series as an EP and signing to P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records label in 2007 Janelle Monáe has worked her way from the outskirts of the soul & R&B scenes and is now blasting towards superstardom. 'The ArchAndroid' is Monáe's first full length release, and features the second and third parts of the aforementioned series (hence 'Suites II and III'), based on a science fiction concept in which Monáe comes from the year 2719, where an bio-android named Cindi Mayweather has been cloned from her DNA and become the saviour of the people. Yes, quite.
First things first. Wow, can this girl sing. Her voice can do anything - epic pop balladry, soft and hushed delicacy, James Brown imitation, monotone rap, cat-like squeals or rock 'n' roll rasps. Anything. The second immediately striking thing about The ArchAndroid is its hugely varied range of styles and genres. This level of crossover appeal is rare, if indeed it has ever been quite so well achieved before.
From the orchestral opening of 'Suite II Overture' to the oldschool soul of 'Tightrope', from the electronic dance vibe of 'Cold War' to the experimental backward winding of 'Neon Gumbo', from the punkish swing of 'Come Alive' to the Simon & Garfunkel style acoustic folk of '57821' or the new-wave electro of 'Make The Bus', no style of music is left out. All she's missing is some free-jazz, and honestly, a lengthy piano solo in the Bond style 'BabopbyeYa' comes pretty darn close. Never was the phrase "there's something for everyone" quite so fitting.
What's most remarkable is that despite the vast array of styles on offer, The ArchAndroid holds together seemlessly - a cohesive collective where each individual track is an impressive example of its chosen specialty. Ok, so the concept behind The ArchAndroid is a little over the top, but the songs are so engrossing that it's perfectly easy to ignore it entirely, while still appreciating the mammoth scale and pure ambition of this extraordinary project.
