Caught in the net: Sleek sounds from the Electric ladies

 

Larry Ryan
Thursday 02 May 2013 19:28 BST
Comments
Back in 2010, Janelle Monáe went big with the futuristic pop, R&B, funk and much else
Back in 2010, Janelle Monáe went big with the futuristic pop, R&B, funk and much else (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Back in 2010, Janelle Monáe (pictured) went big with the futuristic pop, R&B, funk and much else of her highly praised album The ArchAndroid. Now the multi-talented performer from Atlanta returns with a single from her upcoming LP, The Electric Lady. The song “Q.U.E.E.N”, featuring a guest vocal Erykah Badu is a sleek and confident mélange of R&B, rap and pop with a lovely gentle bassline floating along near the end. It’s already been released digitally and is streaming at janellemonae.com.

Kim’s hip-hop helps heal her heartache

In a recent interview with the US edition of Elle magazine, Kim Gordon broke her silence on the breakup of her marriage to her Sonic Youth bandmate Thurston Moore, revealing that an affair on her husband’s part had brought things to an end. She mentioned that while dealing with such difficult matters she got through it by listening to hip-hop. “Rap music is really good when you’re traumatized,” she said. Now Gordon has offered up a playlist of recommended rap entitled “Traumatized Good Times Tunes” for the style/fashion website Refinery29 – hear it at http://ind.pn/11BzbRK.

Dark side of the tune from dubstep star

On 17 June electronic artist Zomby releases his third album, With Love, through 4AD. The UK producer, who treads a fine line between dubstep, electro and grime, offers up a moody first slice from the record in the shape of “Soliloquy”. It’s a dark instrumental with subtle shuddering dubstep bass inflections mixing with some high synth lines and murky atmospherics. Hear it at youtu.be/CgPRVTHAnds.

Blue Hawaii are making waves

While listening to 6 Music’s Tom Ravenscroft recently, I heard the beguiling music of Blue Hawaii, in particular the Montreal pair’s track “Try to Be”. The song is a gorgeous and haunting take on skewed, lilting folk meets electronica. The song is featured on the girl-boy duo’s Bandcamp page where there are a number of singles and an eight track EP – bluehawaii.bandcamp.com.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in