Janelle Monae returns, is still incredible

Oh, this is fantastic. Janelle Monae is back with the first single from her new album, The Electric Lady. Called Q.U.E.E.N. it features vocals from Erykah Badu, cheddar-splendent Paisley Park synths, and an extended string-laden coda that's like a Frank Ocean track without the po-faced "I've got, like, really deep emotions" attitude.

In fact, Janelle is so far removed from introspective navel-gazing, she's having an out-of-body experience. "Will you be electric sheep? Electric ladies will you sleep Or will you preach?" she asks, convinced (correctly) that being batshit crazy is the best way to approach a pop song. It's likely that the song is part of the continuing story of Cindi Mayweather, the fictional time-travelling fembot Monae played on her last album. But honestly, who cares about thematically confused dystopian sci-fi when the music is this good?

As Janelle tweeted last night: "Q.U.E.E.N. was inspired by private discussions between Erykah and me. It is meant to make you JAM. DANCE. FUNK OUT. and dialogue later..."

Key lyric: "The booty don't lie".


Q.U.E.E.N. is available on iTunes from today.

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