Album Review: Pharrell Williams - G I R L

Pharrell Williams released his second album (G I R L) last Monday, through his i Am Other label on Columbia Records.

His song 'Happy' from the album was originally featured in Despicable Me 2, winning a Grammy for Best Original Song. How good is that?

What should I expect?
G I R L is a smooth, modern album. It's pretty soulful, and has a lot of warmth. If you liked Frank Ocean's 2011 album Channel Orange, you'll probably like this.

How does it sound?
The album has a really full sound. Pharrell sounds a little auto-tuned in places, but I think it adds to the soft electro vibe on the album nicely.

The album comes across as more of an extension of 'Get Lucky' (Daft Punk) than 'Happy', which is pretty refreshing.

Best songs:
- 'Gust of Wind' and 'Marilyn Monroe'

'Gust of Wind' is definitely my favourite. Daft Punk's vocals are great on the track, and it's just pretty nice to listen to. Although I love 'Happy', purely because it wasn't made for the album, I'd say that 'Marilyn Monroe' is a close second. There's definitely some interesting stuff though, with 'Lost Queen' being one of the highlights.

Worst songs:
- 'Hunter' and 'Come Get It Bae'

'Hunter' is the weakest song on the album for me. I personally find the vocals a little bit odd, but it's still an alright song. 'Come Get It Bae' isn't so much of a bad song, but just that it sounds a little bit derivative; it sounds pretty similar to "Blurred Lines' (Robin Thicke).

Overall: 6/10

Overall, it's a good album. The mixing is nice on the ears, and the album does have some very very good songs, however the album isn't filled to the brim with instant classics; some of the songs do pale in comparison.

The album doesn't really pass the skip test. On a listen through I do get tempted to skip songs and go to the ones I like. As such, I'm going to give it a decent 6. I feel a bit mean, but I don't think it's quite a 7-er.