Monae knows that as a nonbinary person of color, the seeking of pleasure is always complicated or even impeded by cultural and political history. TUCKER: As the title "The Age Of Pleasure" suggests, the songs here describe the life of a sybarite engaged in the pursuit of sensual happiness. I know you fast wine, but the slow better. You try the fast wine, but the slow better. Nobody do it like me, and you know better. Nobody love you like me, and you know better. I know you try hard, but they know better. MONAE: (Singing) You met your match, and they know better. Listen to the way she deploys a punchy Afrobeat horn section to jumpstart the song "Know Better." She taps into genres native to Africa and the Caribbean, as well as American R&B. TUCKER: The undulating rhythm of that song is typical of the range of sounds and styles Monae uses with such serene confidence. I only, I only, I only have eyes for two. That's when I knew I only, I only, I only have eyes for two. Double the fun, triple the time for love. Everything happened in slo-mo, but we all smiled and said, it's all right. MONAE: (Singing) I like to love with my eyes closed. Listen to the use of an acoustic piano on this song called "Only Have Eyes 42." It's as though Thelonious Monk walked in to plink out a couple of chords to provide the song with its hook. In contrast to this, "The Age Of Pleasure" is intentionally smaller-scaled, more intimate, in some ways more low-key and lo-fi. Monae's version crossed the science fiction of Octavia Butler with the pop eclecticism of Stevie Wonder. TUCKER: Monae's previous album, the grandly ambitious "Dirty Computer," came out in 2018, the same year as the first "Black Panther" movie and filled with a similar kind of Afrofuturism. Yeah, baby, pay me in pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure. Baby, if you pay me in pleasure, I'ma keep it coming, coming, come, come, coming. Baby, if you pay me in pleasure, I'ma keep it coming forever. Spend it all on me, all on me, all on me, all on me. Spend it all on me, all on me, all on me, all on me, all on me. I don't need money or treasure, treasure. MONAE: (Singing) I want my love made to measure, measure. KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: From the moment Janelle Monae began her new album by rapping, I'm feeling much lighter, I float, I was drawn in by this completely disarming collection called "The Age Of Pleasure." No matter what mood you're in, it dissolves any resistance you may have about giving in to its joy, its seductiveness, its glowing positivity. I look around, and I get that rush maybe 'cause tonight you're gonna be my - ah. JANELLE MONAE: (Singing) I look into your eyes, and I get that rush maybe 'cause tonight you're gonna be my crush. And rock critic Ken Tucker says its title, "The Age Of Pleasure," is the crucial key to the themes and sound of this new collection. And in recent years, she's established herself as an actor in films like "Moonlight," "Hidden Figures" and the hugely popular Netflix film "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery." Well, now she's back with her first new album since 2018. Janelle Monae has been releasing albums that mix R&B, pop and rap since 2007.
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