Missed The 50: Janelle Monae

Missed The 50:

Janelle Monae

‘The ArchAndroid’

(Bad Boy Records/Atlantic)

End-of-year lists. Maybe you peruse the countdown and pick out the ones you hadn’t heard of? You might nod sagely and approve all the choices. Perhaps you even treat it as a shopping list and just get the whole lot? These are the enthusiast’s options and if you’re looking at any of those and thinking “Yeah, that’s me,” then congratulations! You’re doing this music thing properly! You’re not doing that, of course. None of us do. Lists provide us all with a chance to become clouded with rage, then stride purposefully over to anyone who’ll listen, point at the list and scream,“BUT THAT’S SHIT!!! AND THEY MISSED OUT MY FAVOURITE!!!” Then you rant until your stooge realises that they don’t really have to listen to you any more and walk away quickly because frankly you’re scaring them a bit.

I’m pissed off too. My album of the year – Superchunk’s ‘Majesty Shredding’ – didn’t make the fifty, but that’s not why I’m writing this now. See, I can live with the idea that a veteran indie rock band’s first album in nine years has been ignored, no matter how gut-bustingly awesome it is, because frankly they were overlooked in their heyday. So y’know. ‘Twas ever thus.

No, the record that’s criminally absent from this list is Janelle Monae’s genre-transcending ‘The ArchAndroid’. She first entered my consciousness via the toe-tapping genius of ‘Tightrope’ – a single which doesn’t so much announce its entrance as moonwalk across, grab your hips and lock gazes with you, effortlessly dragging you into an endlessly addictive groove. It’s built on a Curtis Mayfield-esque funk, a winsome “classic brass” breakdown and Monae’s instantly-arresting vocal. Soulful, catchy and more fun than you can shake a Beach Boy at, it’s one of the best songs to be released this year by anyone.

Then there’s ‘Cold War’, a similarly-exciting track that sounds completely different. The funk’s still there, but this time it’s reminiscent of Andre 3000’s Prince-styled ‘The Love Below’ – psych-tinged electro-rock with enough sass to ensure you stay on your feet. And speaking of psychedelia, there’s also the wonderfully stoned ‘Mushrooms & Roses’ to contend with. And the none-more bizarre of Montreal collaboration ‘Make The Bus’. And the gleefully-melodramatic Bassey pastiche ‘BabopbyeYa’. And… ok, you get the picture. The lady is brimming with ideas. Amazingly, they all fit together. Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention that the album is the latest instalment in a concept series about a messianic android sent back in time to help save an oppressed future society?

Monae is also phenomenally exciting live – she’d come pretty high on this humble hack’s list of live acts for the year too – so you’d be well-advised to check her out for yourself when she comes back to these shores in February. In fact, you’d be sensible to check her out in general. ‘The ArchAndroid’ is as inventive, entertaining and exhilarating as anything else you’ll have heard this year. You seriously owe it to yourself to give it a try.