Pharrell's GIRL: A Recap of 2013

Pharrell's new album, GIRL, is nothing but a highly polished recap of the great year he had in 2013. And why not? The longtime musician and producer (of acts like the Neptunes and N.E.R.D.) was constantly in the spotlight with a string of smash hits and television appearances. Pharrell spent the better part of the year dominating the radio waves with the two biggest songs of the summer, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines." He continued his airwave domination the fall with his contribution to Despicable Me 2, the top-tapping hit, "Happy." This sugary sleeper hit is on constant radio rotation to this day. After listening to GIRL twice through, my simple review of the album: if you loved (or can still tolerate) the above songs, GIRL deserves your weekly Freegal downloads and a spot on your playlist. But if the thought of blurred lines and lucky robots makes you nauseous, stay far, far away from this one. Read below for some critiques of the individual tracks!

Marilyn Monroe - After a short string flourish, the opening track explodes into a dance number ripped straight from a Justin Timberlake album. This is not a bad thing: the song is insanely catchy, with a fast-paced beat that invites you to get out of your seat and dance! 

Brand New - The second track does in fact feature Justin Timberlake and highlights the disco revival theme that Pharrell runs throughout the album. A solid track, with an energetic horn background, but why is it that the track without Justin Timberlake sounds more like Timberlake than the one that does...?

Happy - there's two trains of thought on this song. One group cannot get enough of the upbeat lyrics and beat...because they're happppppy! The other group believes there can be too much of a good thing and this songs makes them angry and sad. Luckily, I am still in the first group and find myself tapping my toes along with this giddy track!

Come Get it Bae - remember "Blurred Lines?" Well, this song is its long-lost cousin, with similar sounds and lyrical content ("None of them boys know the first thing about your fantasy"). And remember when Robin Thicke played that award show with Miley Cyrus and she wore that crazy costume on and became instantly famous overnight? Well, Miley Cyrus is the guest vocalist on this track...a cash grab for sure.

Gust of Wind - the standout track on the album, featuring another . One might argue that "Gust of Wind" is to "Get Lucky" as "Come Get it Bae" was to "Blurred Lines" (and if you read the last paragraph, I was a bit harsh), but I found "Gust of Wind" to be a superior companion to the previous club-and-love minded single. The lyrics speak of a different kind of love than getting lucky: "Like a gust of wind, You head me off sometimes, Like a gust of wind, You remind me there's someone up there." Coupled with great guitar riffs and disco flourish, this should be Pharrell's next smash single of 2014.

In the end, GIRL plays like a radio recap of 2013. Mix one part disco revival, one part Justin Timberlake slow jams, and one part Daft Punk groove, and you have the sum of GIRL's parts. For readers on the fence whether to give GIRL a listen, ask yourself if you wish to revisit the past year of music or if you are looking forward to something new.

You can download GIRL at this link from Pima County Public Library's FREEGAL!

-James