Pharrell – G I R L

Pharrell – G I R L
Columbia: 2014

The fact that people care about G I R L, the new Pharrell Williams album, even a little is pretty incredible in and of itself. It follows In My Mind (2006), an album so universally met by shrugs of shoulders and a succession of serviceable but critically ignored N*E*R*D records that it should be venturing out into a cold, indifferent world.

But it isn’t. After the coup that was “Get Lucky” – not to mention the questionable but gargantuan “Blurred Lines” -, G I R L is being birthed into a world eager to see what Pharrell has to offer. With Williams, it’s always a little hard to know exactly what to expect.  His recent commercial renaissance has come about via a seemingly sudden infatuation with soul and funk inflected disco, but he made his name making hip-hop and rhythm and blues that to this day sounds like it was beamed in from a planet inhabited by aliens way, way hipper than anyone on this planet.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, G I R L is defiantly latter-day Williams. That means disco strings, Nile Rodgers-styled funk licks, and falsetto in place of bars. This isn’t all bad, of course; there is a reason that “Get Lucky” was as huge as it was. Musically, Williams is enough of a pro at this point that he would struggle to make a total dud. One of the albums key weaknesses, though, is the fact that when his music isn’t quite good enough, or not coated in a metallic, futuristic cool, it exposes Pharrell’s corniness. Because of this, G I R L basically lives and dies track-to-track based on whether or not he manages to sweep you up in his goofy enthusiasm.

The principal issues are lyrical. The guy just can’t seem to write substantial lyrics. Words to songs, especially songs so explicitly aimed at movement, don’t need to have a real depth to them. But they can’t really get away with being so clumsy, either. There are no lyrics here that register as impressive. At their worst, the subpar lyricism makes it difficult for moments of this album to be taken seriously even as fun, throwback party music.

The first song alone is full of lines like “let’s dance and elevate each other” and dedications “to the groove and all that surrender it.” The Miley Cyrus duet “Come Get It Bae” meanwhile spends its time pursuing a clumsy dick-as-various-parts-of-a-motorcycle metaphor into the ground. Also, this is definitely not the time to get in to discussions about the controversial sexual politics of “Blurred Lines”, but the playfully predatory “Hunter” isn’t going to do Pharrell any favors.

The only track that really comes together lyrically is Pharrell’s one recent solo smash, the Oscar-nominated “Happy”. This is largely because it’s one of the few moments where he doesn’t sound like he’s trying a little too hard; it strangely benefits from being from the soundtrack of a kid’s movie, in this sense. It slots nicely into the track listing, too, and is probably the first Academy Award-nominated childrens’ song to be sequenced on an album following a track with a chorus like “let the pussy just gush.”

Musically, the project fares quite a bit better, especially when things get a little weirder. The vintage disco of opener “Marilyn Monroe” and the Daft Punk featuring “Gust of Wind” are perfectly fine, pulsing with pleasant groove and decently memoreable melodies. Slightly better is the Justin Timberlake-assisted “Brand New”, which actually manages to channel Jackson 5-esque bounce well.

The one issue with these songs is that despite their well-oiled execution, they can veer towards sounding a little sterile. The music succeeds when Pharrell looks to the future: Gush” sees Williams steering himself closer to the joyfully futuristic, animalistic syncopation of his heyday, while the fuzzy bounce of “Come Get It Bae” manages to get past its own lyrical shortcomings through sheer groove and effervescence.

One of the album’s strongest moments comes when Pharrell abandons the 70s pomp he often seems to be aiming for. “Lost Queen” is G I R L’s strangest moments and also one of its most satisfying. Pharrell chops up just a sliver of a humming choir that he replays, judiciously and teasingly adding sparse percussion in just the right places. It’s gentle, yet full of suggestion and a subtle sense of head-nodding groove that, surprisingly, fits Pharrell’s sing-song, genuine sounding declarations of love (and of course horniness).

For the most part, then, Pharrell mines the same lane that has paid such dividends for him over the last twelve months, only striking gold when he lets his mind wander a bit farther. It’s a shame that Pharrell didn’t use his hot-streak to push things a little further. We know he’s capable.

3 out of 5

You can buy G I R L on Amazon.