Prince may not have graced us with His presence at Glastonbury
this year, but he’s now blessing us with not one but two new albums – the first
to be released since his return to Warner earlier in the year. After years of second-rate self-released
albums, this dual release is meant as a return to form: “welcome home class”,
begins ART OFFICIAL CAGE, “you’ve
come a long way”.
Indeed, ‘ART OFFICIAL AGE’ is a long way from the Prince we
know. This is an album that shoehorns
him into 2014 by modernising his sound, whilst retaining his trademark experimental
edge. Opening track ART OFFICIAL CAGE is not the best start: with its rhythmic funk guitars,
EDM synths, hip-hop beats, rapping and dubstep breakdown, it sounds more like
Prince trying to cover Get Lucky. All that’s missing is a Pitbull rap.
There remain some tracks with a pleasingly retro feel: the
glittering funk of CLOUDS; classic
Prince ballad BREAKDOWN; the sensual 90s
R&B feel of BREAKFAST CAN WAIT;
the impossibly squelchy WHAT IT FEELS
LIKE. On the flipside there’s the
hip-hop swagger of U KNOW, or the
sombre atmospherics of WAY BACK HOME
that have more than a whiff of Drake and The Weeknd about them, whilst THIS COULD BE US is an enjoyable (if
typical) swirling modern ballad. There
are some exciting moments throughout the album and, above all, nobody does funk
like Prince, whatever decade he’s operating in. Even at the age of 56 he has a clear grasp of
contemporary tastes and gives most other current artists a run for their money.
The trouble is it’s so inconsistent. By trying to make himself acceptable to a
mainstream audience, too many bases have been covered, the songwriting
stretched thin. The nearly seven minute
long TIME for instance drifts by ad
infinitum. There’s also some sort of
vague concept surrounding it all on the affirmation
tracks narrated by new best mate Lianne La Havas (shouldn’t she be working
on her next album?), that just gets in the way of the music.
Then there’s ‘PLECTRUMELECTRUM’, yet another album where
Prince appears to have caps lock stuck on and forgotten about the space
bar. This, however, is less a Prince
album and more a showcase for his all-female backing band 3RDEYEGIRL. Lacking the experimentation of its
counterpart, this second album is a far more traditional rock and roll
affair. Tracks like PRETZELBODYLOGIC, WOW and
the title track reveal an incredibly
tight band with stomping riffs and sexy guitar solos, whilst other tracks allow
the girls to take the fore: AINTTURNINROUND
and BOYTROUBLE in particular.
WHITECAPS is a
real highlight that sees the band riffing on a West Coast Fleetwood Mac sound and ANOTHERLOVE features a huge solo in its latter half, but much of
the album just fails to excite. Undoubtedly
the band excel in a live setting, but mediocre tracks like STOPTHISTRAIN, FIXURLIFEUP and
TICTACTOE are far from Prince at his
best.
On both albums, then, Prince demonstrates his impressive ability to
bend various genres to his whim – despite the contrast in styles, it all still
sounds like Prince. Yet the results are
mixed, leading to two frustrating albums that equally demonstrate Prince’s
inability to edit. Instead, they require
listeners to cherry-pick the best from each (isn’t that what iTunes is for?).
If you’re still unsure as to which album is for you, have a
listen to FUNKNROLL – a track that
features on both albums in strikingly opposing iterations. On one album it’s an average funk-rock track;
on the other it’s characterised by clipped electronic beats, menacing synth
bass and guitar stabs that present Prince in a way you’ve never heard him
before.
Oh heck, just buy both albums. Or go and listen to ‘Sign ‘O’ The Times’ instead.
3/5
Gizzle’s Choice:
‘ART OFFICIAL AGE’
* CLOUDS
* BREAKFAST CAN WAIT
* WAY BACK HOME
‘PLECTRUMELECTRUM’
* PRETZELBODYLOGIC
* AINTTURNINROUND
* WHITECAPS
Listen: Both ‘ART OFFICIAL AGE’ and ‘PLECTRUMELECTRUM’ are
available now.
