It’s hard to believe that even after almost fifteen years in the music game, Pharrell Williams still has only two solo records under his belt. Even harder to believe is that G I R L, his sophomore attempt, comes over eight years since his debut, 2006’s In My Mind. In that hiatus, the modern-day music landscape has changed considerably – a marginal shift toward dancefloor anthems has changed the ‘urban’ scene, and not always for the better. Thankfully, Pharrell reminds us, just like Timberlake did last year, that there is still lifeblood left in R&B.
On first impressions, G I R L is a strange old affair; not for any other reason that the simplistic sound of Neptunes’ production being brought to the forefront again, a sound that’s been unfortunately absent over the years.
Opener Marilyn Monroe sees an almost Timberlake / Pusher Love Girl intro, an orchestral anthem performed by no less than a 30-piece orchestra. It’s a fairly cinematic experience, and its clear that Williams has been wholly influenced by the resurgence of disco over the past 12 months. Whilst Nile Rodgers is nowhere to be seen on the record, his impact is made fully aware on the opening track, which sees Pharrell namecheck some of the most iconic ‘G I R L’s in history (Marilyn Monroe, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra). However it’s song #2, the Justin Timberlake-featuring Brand New, that can easily be classed as one of the stand-outs of the album. Timberlake’s falsetto just works; a craft that only the bravest would dare imitate; in fact, the track (which harks close to Timberlake’s own Let The Groove Get In) is seemingly stronger than any inclusion into his September follow-up to The 20/20 Experience.
But of course, this is not a Timberlake album – Pharrell really pushes things up with Hunter, production-wise anyhow – the track giving the strongest inclination yet of Neptunes-influence. However, whilst that is indeed a plus-point, the lyrics are somewhat lacking. “Hey baby, my love is calling” seems just too ‘generic’ R&B, and not pushing of the boundaries that we’ve come to expect from the more heightened of music royalty.
It’s the throwback Gush though that pays homage to some of Williams’ greats (Busta Rhymes’ Light Your Ass On Fire), whilst the title in itself reflects the listener back to his Jay Z collaboration Give It To Me (“Gimme that sweet, that nasty, gushy stuff”), with a beat not too distant from the Justified-era.
We’re not going to talk about Happy, you know all about it already. What is exciting though, and possibly the most interesting cut on the record, is the Miley Cyrus-featuring Come Get it Bae. It seems that if Cyrus is striving to reach a more mature audience, this could crack it. Sure it’s raunchy, that’s what Cyrus aims for, but with the off-beat claps, and almost-countrified production, a Pharrell/Miley collaboration seems far more musically-suited than a Will.I.Am partnership of the young starlet.
What goes up must come down though, with the two most disappointing tracks Lost Queen and Freq, the latter featuring JoJo, fortunately coupled together (Freq a hidden track following on from the former). They seem more album-filler than best-seller, and whilst many albums do have their low moments, it’s disappointing that Pharrell could not have found two tracks to replace them with (particularly as the whole LP only contains eleven cuts in total).
Additionally, whilst Daft Punk fans may rejoice on the French duo’s inclusion on the album, Gust of Wind, produced by the dance heroes, would actually sound better if their robotic voices were entirely absent.
It’s the final two tracks on the album that are the pure standouts though; Alicia Keys sounds wonderful on I Love Who You Are, which contains a revival of sorts with Neptunes throwback production (however it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing to extend the track an odd thirty seconds though), whilst It Girl definitely epitomises ‘saving the best for last’. It’s not a club stomper, in fact hardly any of the album (bar potentially Happy) would force people on the dancefloor, however it’s easy with It Girl to envisage a sun-kissed summer with the roof down and volume up.
Overall, G I R L is a solid effort by Pharrell; it seems a stark departure from his debut In My Mind, but with the music scene going through such a huge metamorphosis since his previous cut’s inception, that change is forgiven.
G I R L is set for release on Monday (3rd March). Hit the iTunes link below to preorder now.
