Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure Review

We are anywhere but the age of pleasure, though Janelle Monáe makes a convincing argument upon her return to recording music. Intermittent breaks and a hell of a bar to vault following her monumental debut are a tough spot to find this brief and collaboration-heavy album in. But here we are. The Age of Pleasure is neither the lucid delights to listen to nor the scratches of reality coming to burn the ears of those tuned into this fourth studio record from Monáe. Bland tones ahead and all to play for on this quick half-hour of music which sounds mixed beyond clarity and features enough Seun Kuti to make it a collaborative effort rather than a few featured cameos. “No, I’m not the same,” Monáe booms on opener Float. There has been a change, of course. 

But few are for the better when it comes to The Age of Pleasure – and as enjoyable as it is there is a lack of steady progression, of intent or investment in the era Monáe now finds herself in. Light as a feather she may be, so too are her lyrical realisations. Tonally shaped in the image of defiance rather than the actions of it, The Age of Pleasure finds itself unable to straddle the fine line of determination in well-earned highs and the braggadocios lists of flash flings and friends. A poppier tone is found and in channelling this engagement with a wider audience comes a dressing down of what could have been challenging material. Repetitive beats and brass-heavy Champagne Shit brings out the trouble this fourteen-track album features.  

Monáe still has pertinent themes to discuss and endure we must as they are half-baked at the best of times. Bolder notions are made on Phenomenal, the Doechii-featuring track making tremendous use of the collaborative efforts. So there are spots of The Age of Pleasure which can crack the nut of fame and its impact – but not enough of it lands. A sense of reggae influence is felt, though the title track repetition hits out similarly to the self-proclaimed confidence found on Jessie Ware’s latest record, That! Feels Good!. A quieter flow comes through the second half of the album, an unremarkable but consistent scope taken on living it large, drinking wine and winding down the autobiographical features with little scope for much growth along the way.  

Nothing remarkable comes from the high expectations set for this new Monáe release. Whether it is because the lacklustre themes feel half-baked and unexplored or because they are not at all interesting in the first place is neither here nor there. A simpler tone is struck, Monáe moves her beat and sound to a broader surface and is unable to keep things together when it matters most. There is an inherently tricky exploration of just how far her themes and lyrics can take her when exposed to a new genre – the answer is not very far. The Age of Pleasure brings an abrupt end to the hopeful qualities of an artist whose promise is still shining, though has taken a hit.