Lenny Kravitz’s latest album ends his longest pause between studio recordings. However, this is not due to lack of creativity or time spent in the studio. A 2023 Esquire article by Madison Vain explains that “Kravitz showed up at his Bahamas home in March 2020 with enough clothes for a weekend.” However, due to the pandemic, “Kravitz stayed for the better part of the next two and a half years.” People dealt with the global shutdown in various ways: some ignored it, some had personal shutdowns, some carried on as best they could and tried to find a new normal, some turned inward and reflected, and others used the unexpected time and space to create. For Kravitz it was the last two—reflection and time—that led to a burst of productivity. “During the longest stretch of stillness—of staying in one place—in his adult life, music poured out,” reports Vain. So many ideas were arriving that “at times he barely slept at all. Waking up at all hours, hearing melodies in his head, and racing to get them down.” Eventually, “he had three separate albums in progress.” Not to worry, “he expects we’ll hear the two other sets, both mostly completed, someday.” Blue Electric Light is the album that Kravitz feels, “‘spoke to me’” right now.
With so much music to share and such a gap between albums, Kravitz might have wanted to rush out Blue Electric Light. Instead of choosing right now, Kravitz chose the right time to release new music. Vain inform us that “Kravitz tinkered away in the studio. Testing different arrangements, dialling up the drums, lowering the vocals. Mixing songs and then mixing them again.” He delayed the album’s release another two months due to commitments honouring the legacy of social activist Bayard Rustin. He uses BMG for distribution, but records for his own label and follows his own timeline. As he explains in a March 12, 2023 interview with Guitar Player, “I turn in records when I turn them in—when I feel that I’m ready and the music is ready.”
Opening track “It’s Just Another Fine Day (In This Universe of Love)” set the tone for the album. It’s a soulful, funky tune that grooves somewhere between mellow and rocking. Like some of the other tracks, flashes of psychedelia pop up. A little more on the rock spectrum, the catchy and jamming “TK421,” a reference to a stormtrooper in the original Star Wars, boosts energy a notch. It’s also one of the strongest tracks. The laidback “Honey” completely cuts the rock. At this point, listeners will begin to realize that Blue Electric Light is weighted less towards hard driving anthems and more towards a softer, introspective, and tender side. “Paralyzed” has a heavier beat than one might first realize. However, the tempo is moderate. A little before the three-minute mark Kravitz belts out, “Oh, I need your love!” and a talk box solo erupts, showing that Kravitz could have made this a heavier track if he had wanted. After the four-minute mark, his vocals regain that earlier sense of urgency. “Human” begins with a classic 80s New Wave sound that would have been right at home on an early Depeche Mode record, say Some Great Reward (1984) give or take a record. Vintage instruments used in the track include a DMX drum machine, ARP Odyssey, and Fairlight CMI. It’s a pleasant tune about living life on one’s own terms, but it might be a tad too radio-ready. Kravitz has some fun on “Let It Ride.” There are no double entendres here. The song is obviously/blatantly/shamelessly/joyously about sex. As simple as the act itself, Kravitz strips the song down to just his voice and a drum machine.
At number seven of twelve tracks, the appropriately titled “Stuck in the Middle” is another slower, laidback song about love and feeling as if you as a part of another person, but whereas “Let It Ride” is sensual, “Stuck in the Middle” is spiritual. “Bundle of Joy” picks up the pace and gives us another track about a love interest. It’s positive and bouncy, but like “Human” it seems a little too perky, maybe. It will put you in a good mood, though. “Love Is My Religion” continues in this vein. However, I’m willing to go with it and buy into it more than “Bundle of Joy,” though neither track completely hits me. “Heaven” opens with some cool sounds and Kravitz funk. Thematically, it is an extension of “Love Is My Religion,” but is the stronger of the two. Just before the 3:30 mark, there is an abrupt burst of distorted fuzz and the track seems poised to break away in another direction, but it quickly pulls itself back and reverts to business as usual. “Spirit in My Heart” is a light breeze. There’s a hint of sadness and/or longing in the lead guitar line and Kravitz’s voice. The vocals become deeper and more soulful in the final twenty seconds. A sizzling keyboard opens closing track “Blue Electric Light,” which seems like the song in an eighties movie that would appear during a slow dance at prom when the star-crossed couple finally get a chance to just enjoy being together. My imaginary movie ends as they share a first kiss while the other couples turn around, watch them, and clap. “Blue Electric Light” feels like a fitting track to finish the album with, and I dig it the more I listen to it.
Already looking ahead to the next album, Kravitz realizes that “after doing this record and working with synthesizers and drum machines and a bit more production, I can see that my reaction will now be to go the other way” (Guitar Player). The next album will be “very much a straight-ahead rock record.”
For now, don’t be in a rush for the next thing. Go outside and sit in the sun or under a tree. Preferably, in the grass. Downshift and catch a vibe. Turn the phone over. Close the screens. Give this album your undivided attention and see what it gives back (when was that last time you gave something or someone all of your attention, all of your love?). Don’t worry about what track you’re on, whether or even how this compares to Kravitz’s first or last album. Just listen, try to feel it, and see where it takes you. Go to that place. As Kravitz reflects in the Esquire article, “‘I’m not here for the accolades; I’m here for the experience.’”
