As it turns out, his Prince-mimicking fusion looks a lot better on paper than it sounds in your ears. On too many songs, Andre repeats space-playboy choruses over repetitious, unfinished digifunk.
As the brief orchestrated outro to "Pink and Blue" suggests, each track feels like it's missing something- strings, guitars, harmonies, organic instruments, and, oh right: Big Boi. Andre does have his moment, though: "Hey Ya!" glitters and towers like the silver Westin hotel over an 80s Atlanta skyline, blending Flaming Lips-like synth-bass and ebullient acoustic guitar with the rebellious joy of "Little Red Corvette"- and like all classic songs, it introduces new vernacular with a genius that transcends product placement. Even feeders will shout "Polaroid!" while miming spanking at this fall's Not-Dog cookouts. Of the few other tracks on The Love Below that come close to reaching "Hey Ya!"'s apex, the one that most succeeds is "Spread", which showcases trumpets and piano weaving through a rubber bassline and scattering rimshots. Its chorus has Andre putting on his Camille voice, while the verses contain some of the only moments on the album in which he actually flows. When he does, he's tight enough to pose the question of why he decided to cut back on rapping at all- particularly since, frankly, he ranks just above Pharrell Williams on the "brilliant but mosquito-throated crooner" list. Elsewhere, the quite literal "Dracula's Wedding" boasts guest vocalist Kelis over whistling squelches, while Norah Jones' lovely turn on the acoustic "Take Off Your Cool" hints at the true stylistic breadth Andre is capable of achieving. "Baby, take off your cool/ I want to get to know you," they both sing over plucks and strums. (Except for that "become the master of your own bastion" nonsense.)īig Boi's Speakerboxxx coolly upstages its counterpart: Although it, too, provides the world with one earthshaking single, it differs from The Love Below in that it also manages to maintain a consistent level of brilliance and emotional complexity.
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