janelle monaé - come alive (war of the roses)

i think i discovered monaé when national radio here played her single "cold war" extensively. i think i brushed it off in the beginning since it at a glance sounded like melanie fiona's "monday morning" which i despise. but all it needed was one concentrated listening and i noticed: 'hey those are the drums from outkast's "b.o.b."', a song i really love.

i got quite into the song and got into "tightrope" as well after hearing an amazing rendition by swedish choir klubbkören (see here). all these nods along with some hefty ones from various music mags giving her props.

listened to her album/suites and found that she is in fact the rightfully heir to prince, whitney houston, michael jackson, aretha franklin & james brown. but the thing that amazed me was the fact while she is a part of big boi's collective, she is actually signed to bad boy. she must really impressed sean combs or his a&r's in order to get all her creative input intact. because if it's some thing associated with combs and bad boy, it's that: whatever puffy says is what ever going to happen and that's final.

but the surprising factor is that she is still considered to be a bit under the radar which i found weird considering all the hype's been given. but i think her touring has won her a hefty amount of fans and one thing they all noticed is her magnificent finisher. she usually ends with "come alive (war of the roses)" and it's really something.

this song is one of the songs that really stands out on the album and it grabbed me instantly, just like "cold war" & "dance or die". i think the most noticable thing is that it borrows from the b-52's classic "rock lobster". the track has this nice swing to it but it's the quiet/loud dynamic that really stands out. it's not that the quiet parts are that quiet either but the loud parts are that over the top that it makes the intro and the bridges looking calm.

buy here (7digital)

however when it's live she blows up the song and set the epic level firmly at 12, no not eleven, twelve. because she's really taken all the right cues from james brown and extended this powerful three minute song to a 10+ minute epic. it has this middle piece which brings it down, down, down (yeah, i had to do that reference). later comes the big bikini whale and it's just pompous and epic.

it was my good friend jan henrik who linked me to the performance at this years glastonbury and it's just aweinspiringally awesome.

said live performance (youtube)