Well, Prince has a new album out – 3121.

I’m of mixed minds about it – after one listening, I don’t like it as much as his last one, Musicology, which I’ve liked more than anything he’s done in many years. However, there are several tracks that rock nicely, nothing that stands out as being a lousy tune, and I’ll be listening to the whole thing more over the next few weeks to get a feel for the album as a whole, as I’ve done with all of his work.

There’s this ‘soft-jazz’ feeling that has been coming through a lot lately in his music, and I can’t say that I’m a big fan of it. I miss some of the funky, bluesy feel. Almost everything lately has a little too “mellow” feel for me. I really thought Musicology was, in several ways, a return to some of that; a driving funky collection, I still listen to it regularly. This new album is close, but still has a very distinct lack of Energy that I so love in his earlier stuff. Much of his recent stuff just feels like someone trying to be ‘smooth’, and I miss that raw driving Energy. The passion.

Maybe this is just a result of his growing older, more mature, his new religious beliefs. As he got older, maybe he mellowed and lost some of that anger and angst that was his muse, and the muse is driven by a more gentle spirit now. Of course, that’s probably a good thing for him, if that’s the case!

So there you are. 3121. Not his best work, but very enjoyable.