Album of the Day

Five years after the acclaimed DIRTY COMPUTER, Janelle Monáe returns to record stores with THE AGE OF PLEASURE. Setting a celebratory tone, the 14 originals on the new Atlantic collection had been play-tested at get-togethers with friends; as the performer noted, “if the songs can't work at the party, they're not going on the album.” Highlighted by such tracks as “Float,” “Lipstick Lover” and “Water Slide,” this garden of earthly delights is a seamless mix of Afrobeat, reggae and soul and finds Monáe joined by fellow revelers including the legendary Grace Jones. THE AGE OF PLEASURE has just been nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy, and we'll cue it up now to wish Monáe a happy birthday.