Prince and 3RDEYEGIRL
PLECTRUMELECTRUM
(Warner Bros.)

Hitting the market with two recent releases, Art Official Age and this album, Plectrumelectrum, Prince is certainly making lots of noise.

“WOW” opens this 11-song collection with stripped-down, heavy bass, voice verses and over-driven, sing-song choruses. It features heavy riffing, wha-wha bass and wailing at the end (the first of which will prove lots of wild guitar playing from his grand Purpleness). “AINTTURNINROUND” features one of Prince’s all-girl backing trios here singing, drummer Hannah Ford Welton. It’s a driving, heavy chorus mover with big stuff from Prince’s guitar, especially feedback distortion at the end reminding me of “Let’s Go Crazy.”

The album’s title track is a riff-tastic instrumental Led Zep-like rocker with Prince and bass player Ida Nielsen in-sync, and the main man trading off with guitarist Donna Grantis at the tail end. It’s a highlight here for me.

Ford takes lead vocals again (with Prince backing) on the soft “WHITECAPS,” another big bass tune from Nielsen with a singable chorus. “FIXURLIFEUP” is a huge rocking comment-on-society song (though some of the lyrics are a bit trite) with a great rocking chorus, grooving verses and a bass-slappin’ jam at its end. “BOYTROUBLE” has cool raps with Lizzo and Sophia Eris with a stompin’ bass, but it doesn’t really ever get off the ground.

“ANOTHERLOVE” is yet again a sexy Prince song that opens up into almost a Fleetwood Mac-like ending with Prince expertly and expressively leading out at the end. It’s another stand-out track.

“FUNKNROLL,” a song that appears on both ART OFFICIAL AGE and this album, ends this collection in a Sign O The Times-era Prince style, in full funk glory.