Review: Lenny Kravitz – Blue Electric Light
Lenny Kravitz has released his 12th studio album entitled Blue Electric Light and it just might be one of his best releases over the last decade. Blue Electric Light delivers a broad wide stroke across multiple musical genres, which is exactly what Lenny does best, which is refusing to be defined.
In the 90’s, I was lucky enough to see Lenny perform at The Cotton Club in Atlanta, GA on his Let Love Rule tour. When I first heard that debut album, it immediately resonated with its blend of rock, soul, and funk folded into a perfect blend of nirvana. Arriving at the small club, there may have been 100 people in attendance. And mid-show, among the paisley, tassels, and bellbottoms, an unknown man leaned over to me and said, “You will never see him perform in a venue this small ever again.” And he was right.
Eleven albums later after Let Love Rule, Lenny Kravitz has put together one of his strongest collections of songs in many years, and the result is the fantastically conceived and funk filled Blue Electric Light.
Like the debut album that started it all, the album is filled with musings of hope and love that kicks the door off the hinges from the opening track It’s Just Another Fine Day (In This Universe of Love) and all the way to the closing title track Blue Electric Light.
The album opens with the slow rolling funk groove It’s Just Another Fine Day (In This Universe of Love), which some have speculated is yet another love letter to Lisa Bonet. And while those same folks have absolutely no insight into his personal life, some of those lyrics do lend itself to that speculation:
I don’t know, but I know
That you are there in limbo
I call your name, just listen
You’re the one I’m missing
It’s just another fine day in this universe
(I can’t hug you, I can’t touch you)
I can’t count the ways that this really hurts
(I can’t hold you now)
It’s just another fine day in this universe of love
However, one thing you can’t overlook is the funk-filled goodness from multiple tracks of the album. That is immediately evident from the lead single entitled TK421. The track is incredibly funky and seems that a definitive nod to Prince in the song structure, delivery and vibe.
Kravitz explained that the TK421 title derived from his favorite movie Boogie Nights, where the character Buck Swope is working in a stereo store trying to sell a stereo modification called the TK421 which would make the stereo sound even better, even though the “upsell” modification is not even real.
Kravitz says, “It’s this thing that makes it better. It gives it more power.” He continues explaining that TK421 is also the name/number of a stormtrooper in the original Star Wars movie, which is where the Boogie Nights reference derives from and serves as a shout out to George Lucas.
It’s unfortunate that we’re so far removed from the impressionable hit-making days of terrestrial radio, because the album is packed full of easily accessible pop hits like the laid back, top down, happy bounce of Honey, which would have ruled the airwaves back in the day. Not to mention the similarly upbeat bounce of Human with its impressive song structure and slick chord changes.
On the flip side of the rock spectrum, tracks like Paralyzed and Love is My Religion could have easily seated itself among his previous hits like Fly Away. And of course, you can’t have a Lenny Kravitz album without the proverbial love songs filled with a delicate balance of pleading and want with the track Stuck in the Middle and closing title track Blue Electric Light.
Across the board, Blue Electric Light is by far one of Lenny Kravitz‘s best albums in many years. It’s well worth a listen and the most cohesive collection of songs and especially for true fans who have been waiting for Lenny to go back to his spiritual core and become more realigned with the energy that gave us his first three masterpieces of his discography. And with Blue Electric Light, it seems he is right back to that perfect musical symbiosis.
We give this album, 4.5 out of 5 afros.
