Music review: Lenny Kravitz leans into funk with glorious ‘Blue Electric Light’

The bass is pounding, the guitars are screaming, and Lenny Kravitz is howling on “Blue Electric Light,” the rocker’s best song in years, offering a welcome blast of funk in 2024.

There’s joy and swagger on almost every track, with Kravitz showing off his talent for adding cool things to songs – a blistering guitar part here, a sax solo there, or a touch of Wurlitzer. Bongos? Clear. A dialog box? Whatever, honey.

It starts with Kravitz’s trademark lush arena rock on “It’s Just Another Fine Day (In This Universe of Love)” and then he channels the late Prince on the addictive “TK421,” which sounds like it could have been on “ Purple Rain.”

What is “TK421”? It’s in the movie “Boogie Nights” as a term for a stereo upgrade and in “Star Wars” as the designation for a Stormtrooper. In Kravitz’s NSFW video for the song, he heavily suggests that TK421 is his, ahem, personal stormtrooper. Whatever it is, you’ll be hard-pressed to find more enjoyable music this summer.

“Honey” is a sweet ballad of seduction and “Paralyzed” finds Kravitz thrillingly going into 80s heavy metal, while “Let It Ride” is later Prince, with Kravitz pulling out a Moog and some Rollands for a synth-laden fest , making his voice almost threatening in the blue of the computer.

“Bundle of Joy” initially sounds like it’s about a baby, but Kravitz is back in the room, admiring “a lover’s savoir-faire with her silken thighs” before letting out a scream much like Purple One. He vibrates with passion on the soulful “Stuck in the Middle” and “Human” has incredible percussion and a Depeche Mode vibe.

He takes some digs about our social divisions on “Love Is My Religion,” a stomping hot piano and the lyrics: “War and shaking our planet is baking in front of your nose / And the conclusion is coming fast, so stay tuned your toes.” Kravitz channels Rick James for another groovy plea for us all to get along on “Heaven.”

The album ends with the title track, which appropriately sounds like it should play over the end credits of a high-octane movie franchise featuring cool robots and stealthy models. “I just want to make love/Under electric blue light,” he sings. We are putty in his hands.

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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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