Blue Electric Light

Langue disponible : anglais

Lenny Kravitz has been preaching the same message for 35 years now: Let love rule. It was the title of his debut and, on his 12th studio album, he's circled back to the theme in a big way. "Love is my god!" he exclaims on "Love Is My Religion," a glam stomper with a fun Marc Bolan-esque guitar solo and a plea for the world to shake off its hateful tendencies. "I need your love," he wails, surrounded by crashing drums on "Paralyzed"—which is so heavy it could be a Black Sabbath or Foo Fighters track. (As usual, Kravitz plays most instruments on the album, supported by longtime co-guitarist Craig Ross.) And the idea is expressed with Stevie Wonder '80s-style joy on "Human." Set to butt-shaking percussion, wailing guitar runs and a bell ringing over and over like the sound of newfound liberation, the song finds Kravitz letting his freak flag fly: "When all of my days are done/ Of pleasin' everyone/ I'll finally have begun ... I'm gonna live my truth in this life/ I am not gonna live a lie." And truly, can you think of anyone seemingly more confident in their own skin—who seems to care less what others think about his big scarves, high-heeled boots, mesh shirts and social-media videos of bare-chested chin-ups?  You also get silky Lenny and his falsetto croon on "Honey" and husky, growling Lenny ("Free your inhibitions, baby ... Just let me taste you/ Can I eat your mind?") on the blushingly sexy, robo synth freakout "Let It Ride." And he sounds great on "TK421," a shamelessly strutting slice of funk rock—complete with whoos, ripping guitar, sax blare from Harold Todd and what sounds like light-saber swooshes—made for open-bar wedding receptions. (The song title is a nod to the identification number of the stormtrooper charged with inspecting the Millennium Falcon in the first Star Wars film.) "All I'm asking is for you to break the seal/ So we can dance our way to the divine," Kravitz sings. "Bundle of Joy"—which evokes the bright '80s R&B pop of Vanity Six and The Time—also comes on like a call to the dance floor. And the lightly psychedelic title track, with its distinct '80s drum sound, shimmers like a disco ball. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz