Album Review: Pharrell William's "G I R L"

Pharrell Williams' recent string of hits continues with the release of his first album in eight years, G I R L. The full-length effort has already debuted at #1 in the U.K. and is expected to chart well stateside. The studio release comes at a hot time in Pharrell's career, following an incredibly successful year of collaborations with Robin Thicke and Daft Punk and his work on the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack. An album seems a logical thing to do in this productive flow of creativity -- and it is sure to be a profitable choice.

The name GIRL comes from many meanings. He loves his women (or woman, I should say). How do you know? He tells you -- plenty of times in this record. The entire album is a praise of the female but not in the objectifying way of most male artists with a hip hop background. He respects women. He's sensitive, and in a way, that brings the girl out of him to even consult, "Dear diary," as in track "Marilyn Monroe," and to "go inward to experience the outer space," like in "Lost Queen" hidden track "Freq."

Still, Pharrell likes his sex, admitting, "Half of me is good, the other half nasty," ("Lost Queen") and, boy -- er, girl -- does he get nasty in "Come Get It Bae" and especially in "Gush," which beginning recalled parts of Dannii Minogue's "Push" for me in the oozing of the word. And through it all, he tries to maintain respect and treat her well, citing, "I could be the guy to treat you/ to a nice movie, feed you/ But I don't wanna mislead you/ Tonight I think I wanna be dirty, girl/ ...My momma didn't raise me that way."

Pharrell wrote and produced all tracks on this record, save "Marilyn Monroe," which credits Ann-Marie Calhoun as a co-writer. However, much of the funk sound appears similar to works by Justin Timberlake, but why shouldn't it when Pharrell co-wrote and -produced several tracks on Justin's first album? Justin even is featured in "Brand New." Alicia Keys comes in on "Know Who You Are," while Kelly Osbourne, Timbaland, Miley Cyrus, Daft Punk, and JoJo are also featured in backgrounds through the album. Pharrell completely takes a break from rapping on this effort and even sings high enough to casually use his falsetto through much of the album, recalling another reference to the album's title.

As a whole, every song stays positive and pro-female. I wonder if he wrote some of these songs for female artists but changed them slightly to match himself. The album is united in its charming expression of Pharrell, but the catching, standout cuts are few.

Standout Tracks include opening, romance-confessional "Marilyn Monroe," breezy Timberlake-duet "Brand New," and feel-good song of the year "Happy."

Would I recommend it? What I really like about this album is that every song is expressed positively. There are no drowned-world, self-pity, or break-up cuts. At the same time, it feels substance-less. The pop moments are the highlights of this album, but if you get off on neo soul and funk in your R&B, you probably will really take to this album as a complete set.

I give G I R L 3 out of 5 stars.