Plectrumelectrum Prince and 3rdEyeGirl album

Warner Bros. Records

album

One of the greatest funk-rock bands ever.

Plectrumelectrum is the debut LP of Prince’s all-female backing band 3rdEyeGirl, a funk-rock (‘funk and roll’ as Prince termed it) group he assembled in December 2013 after watching their various audition videos online.

The album’s material was created through their combined input (the title track is developed from the guitarist’s Donna Grantis’s own 2012 track Elektra) recorded in sessions that took place at Paisley Park Studios throughout 2013. Tictactoe was laid down at Bryan Ferry’s personal facility Studio One in London whilst the band was touring in February 2014. The Hit And Run Tour in promotion of 3rdEyeGirl and the Plectrumelectrum album was similarly facilitated via word of mouth and the use of social media, supported with a website 3rdeyegirl.com. Essentially a rock album, Plectrumelectrum was recorded analogue and has the band playing together live in the studio rather than individually and digitally – to give it that classic album feel. Plectrumelectrum duly received a limited vinyl format release.

The opener Wow (recorded in a single take) is Prince’s reinterpretation of the same song titled The Unexpected he wrote for Liv Warfield’s album of the same name, released under NPG Records on 11 February 2014. Plectrumelectrum revisits Prince’s penchant for one-word titles (this time stylized uppercase) first employed in 1993 with Come. Although Anotherlove was written in 2013 by Alice Smith, Prince’s version which rearranges both the music and lyrics is by no means a cover. Plectrumelectrum features emerging Minneapolis rap trio The Chalice, comprising Lizzo, Claire de Lune and Sophia Eris, who were invited to Paisley Park in April 2013 to add their raps to Boytrouble.

Having not released an album since 2010’s 20TEN, the existence of Plectrumelectrum was greeted with immense relief when announced via the band’s @3rdeyegirl Twitter account in May 2013, with recording complete that November. The first single Fixurlifeup was given a digital release just prior to the final night of the band’s 2013 Live Out Loud Tour. The second single Pretzelbodylogic followed in February 2014 on the eve of their promotional tour in London, which caused it to scrape into the UK singles chart at number 90. Yet it would be well over a year later that the LP itself would become available. Indeed, knowing Prince’s flighty nature, its delayed release was met with frustration among fans who feared the record would be cancelled. Momentum renewed when Prince and 3rdEyeGirl played The Arsenio Hall Show, aired on CBS on 5 March 2014 as a special 45-min long ‘take over’ event. It would not be until 12 June that the album’s official listening party took place, yet once again Plectrumelectrum was postponed. To fans’ relief on 25 August, the band’s drummer Hannah Ford gave the official confirmation the LP would be released and drop on the same day as Art Official Age – Prince’s first solo album in four years. It was a doubly significant moment as both records were released under Warner Bros Records no less, Prince’s first deal with the label since their public falling out in 1993 and him exiting his contract in 1996. To bridge the two albums together, Funknroll recorded by 3rdEyeGirl in June 2013, is included also on Art Official Age as an entirely reimagined version of the track.

When released on 30 September 2014, Plectrumelectrum was positively received among fans and critics alike and was a commercial success. Selling 33,000 units in the US, Plectrumelectrum peaked at 8 on Billboard 200 and topped its Rock chart. It entered the UK album chart at number 11.

3rdEyeGirl

Hannah Ford, of Louisville, Kentucky, playing drums since the age of 7, had set up her own band in Chicago and later hosted online clinics for aspiring drummers. Prince spotted her YouTube videos and hired the 22-year-old as guest drummer in his Welcome 2 Chicago stint in September 2012. In 3rdEyeGirl, Ford played a white Gretsch drumkit lined with gold hardware, with twin bass drums displaying the 3rdEyeGirl artwork of illustrator Stella Blu. Ford’s first task for Prince was to enlist a female guitarist. Donna Grantis, from Toronto, had independently released her album named Suites with Diamond Gem Records in 2012 and posted videos on YouTube playing the guitar in her band, Electric Band, to aid its promotion. Hannah Ford brought these to the attention of Prince who invited Grantis to a 12-hour audition at Paisley Park in November 2012. In 3rdEyeGirl, Grantis played a PRS S2 Starla electric guitar. In March 2013, she composed the instrumental and what became the album’s title track. Isa Nielsen, from Copenhagen, Denmark, was bass player in the NPG since Prince’s Europe tour of 2010, enlisted as result of watching her playing a gig posted to MySpace – Prince flying her to Paisley Park to audition. Nielsen’s bass of choice was the Fender Jazz. Keyboardist and aspiring producer Joshua Welton, married to Hannah Ford since 2011, was introduced to Prince by her and eventually became percussionist for 3rdEyeGirl in their live shows and sings co-lead vocals with his wife in Stopthistrain.

Ford and Nielsen joined Prince and the NPG to perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live on 23 October 2012. Then in December 2012, 3rdEyeGirl replaced New Power Generation as Prince’s backing band and staged their first public show as a named band at the Dakota Jazz Club on 18 January 2013. 3rdEyeGirl backed Prince on two tours; Live Out Loud Tour of 2013 to introduce and hone the band ahead of their recording sessions for the LP, and Hit And Run Tour to build momentum for that album. 2013 ended with three arena performances Prince and the band staged at the Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville in Connecticut on 27, 28 and 29 December. 3rdEyeGirl’s one and only album Plectrumelectrum was not released until September 2014, and although they were never officially disbanded, by the end of 2015 Prince returned to making solo projects. Additional songs had been laid down for a follow-up 3rdEyeGirl LP which sadly did not come to pass due to Prince’s sudden death in April 2016.

Cover story

Collages have featured on many of Prince’s album covers: 1999, Around The World In A Day, Graffiti Bridge, Chaos And Disorder, MPLSound and end at Plectrumelectrum. The images are of Prince’s backing band 3rdEyeGirl, shot by Maddison Dube. The collage is the work of the then newly established artist Jesse Draxler, from St Paul, Minnesota.

Performers

Vocals/Guitar

Prince

Drums/Vocals

Hannah Ford Welton

Rhythm Guitar

Donna Grantis

Bass Guitar

Ida Nielsen

Data

Producer

Prince

Label

NPG Records

Distribution

Warner Bros. Records

Cover/Design

Madison Dube and Jessie Draxler

Released

12 years ago on 30 September 2014

Running Time

44:01

US Chart Peak

8

UK Chart Peak

11

Prince Album

#36

Orig. Formats

Tracklist

1. Wow (4:27)
2. Pretzelbodylogic (3:26)
3. Aintturninround [sung by Hannah Ford Welton] (3:01)
4. Plectrumelectrum (4:51) ¹
5. Whitecaps [sung by Hannah Ford Welton] (3:42)
6. Fixurlifeup (3:12)
7. Boytrouble [sung by Hannah Ford Welton, raps by Lizzo, Claire de Lune and Sophia Eris] (3:52)
8. Stopthistrain [duet by Hannah Ford and Joshua Welton] (3:40)
9. Anotherlove (4:15) ²
10. Tictactoe (3:38)
11. Marz (1:48)
12. Funknroll (4:09)

Released as a single

¹ Written by Donna Grantis.
² Original lyrics written by Alice Smith, rearranged in Prince's version.

Singles from Plectrumelectrum

Fixurlifeup

NPG Records

Released

16 May 2013

US Chart Peak

Did not chart

UK Chart Peak

Did not chart

Cover/Art

Madison Dube

Format

1. Fixurlifeup (3:17)

Pretzelbodylogic

NPG Records

Released

3 February 2014

US Chart Peak

Did not chart

UK Chart Peak

90

Cover/Art

Jessie Draxler

Format

1. Pretzelbodylogic (3:28)

Supporting tour

Hit And Run Tour

2014/5

• Hit And Run (London, UK)
  12 shows from 5 to 22 February 2014
• Hit And Run Part II (UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria)
  17 shows from 15 May to 31 August, 2014
• HITNRUN Tour USA (USA, Canada)
  shows from 15 March to 14 June, 2015

Plectrumelectrum album review

Funny thing is, and this is purely down to the sheer length of time waiting for Plectrumelectrum (since 2010’s 20TEN to be exact), the relief, which was palpable across the purple realm when this was finally released. There was plenty of dark moments when even the most believing in Prince’s fandom fought off waves of doubt that Plectrumelectrum would ever see light of day.

Plectrumelectrum came out with Art Official Age on the same day. Yet it had always been Plectrum I had been so desperate to hear more so than any other Prince release in my 25 years as a fan because of that long wait to getting it. The big question that arises out of this is will this much delayed ‘debut’ album of 3rdEyeGirl also be their last. Time told that the answer would sadly be yes. The Revolution saw three albums and the NPG two. But unlike his other projects the energy and youth of the 3rdEyeGirls provided an inoculation, not sidetrack, to Prince career.

Throughout, Prince is sharing not feigning responsively to his fellow band members, holding them all on equal par and doing so was the key to the album’s appeal. The opener dispels all that pre-release pent up anxiety, a one-word description of the entire album – Wow! It’s odd not hearing Prince on all the songs and it in that way harks back to Parade (I Wonder U) and again with Graffiti Bridge in 1990. His presence is not only felt but heard keenly throughout. Plectrumelectrum is thereby a true collaboration album. His trust in the band’s music craft is based in the fact they as a quartet are as tight as any serious rock band.

Plectrumelectrum is the perfect marriage of hard (Aintturninround, Plectrumelectrum), reckless (Marz – a channelling Plastic Bertrand), dreamy (Wow, Stopthistrain), earthy (Anotherlove) and retro (Fleetwood Mac inspired Tictactoe) voyage through which music fans have grown to hope from Prince releases: Boytrouble and Funknroll packing the real punch. With too many outstanding tunes it’s just far simpler calling out the weakest: Fixurlifeup. The highs just keep coming in what must be a reward for a truly long wait for a Prince album – and one that begs to be played loud. Electric.

Plectrumelectrum is rated 5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.