“WITHOUT A FIGHT” – JANELLE MONAE

Hats off to Miss Monae. Even prior to the release of “Many Moons,” young Janelle had a solid following thanks to songs like “Violet Stars Happy Hunting!” and “Sincerely, Jane.” She is now a very relevant figure in the arts community and she continues to set the bar higher in a lot of her performances.

For months I had been hearing of a young Aretha Franklin-esque figure that was emerging from the Outkast camp. I was skeptical that anybody could bring back that classic, soulful sound but at the same time be “poppy” and relevant enough for the enjoyment of young and old people alike. Janelle Monae did exactly that on her 2010 Studio Album, “The ArchAndroid.” This album included an impressive array of inspiring music that stayed true to classic musical standards, yet had that certain pop viscera. I’m excited to see if her style will take on some sort of evolution, hopefully the type that involves more electronica. (If you haven’t caught on, I’m obsessed with the meshing of the old and new “schools.”)

“Without A Fight” begins with that feel good organ and guitar, then tricks you into an upbeat jazzy tune. This song does exactly what it set out to do, and is quite simple in doing so. It is easy to get carried away in the instrumentation and complexity of arrangements with this type of music. Its simple urban-type beat, although probably programmed, sounds real. It’s all about real. My only criticism is that this type of song really calls for an uplifting bridge that takes the tune somewhere else and then culminates in that very powerful chorus.

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