The first time I saw a Janelle Monae video, I was cast into a dilemma between wanting to sit back on the couch and wondrously take it all in - and wanting to jump up and murderously mimic her moves. I ended up somewhere in-between both, something akin to a gaping-mouthed robot. You see, the magnificent Ms Monae can move, as exemplified by the video for her early track Many Moons below. The Kansas-raised musician is not only an amazing songwriter and vocalist; she is a dazzling performer who draws from composers, filmmakers and artists to create not just music, but an entire concept. She released her debut EP Metropolis: The Chase Suite in 2007, with plans to release three more seperate parts. However, after nabbing a Grammy nomination and catching the attention of many critics and peers, she was then signed by P Diddy's label Bad Boy Records – on which she has just released parts two and three in the suite concept as a combined full-length album The ArchAndroid. Like its predecessor, The ArchAndroid is riddled with futuristic concepts and themes. You could get lost in the stories of muses and alter-egos Monae weaves. The gist is, that she was snatched from the year 2719 and forced back into our era ... meanwhile an android called Cindi Mayweather has been cloned from her stolen DNA and is setting about trying to free the citizens of a place called Metropolis whose "freedom and love" has been suppressed throughout the ages. Monae has said she plans to release videos for each of the songs and a graphic novel, which will surely help explain her concepts more fully. In the meantime, her music offers plenty to lose yourself in. With her elegant voice, this woman can evoke anyone from Shirley Bassey, to Grace Jones or Billie Holiday, while her influences jump from Michael Jackson, Prince and OutKast to David Bowie. So as you'd expect, her album flies from genre to genre, from upbeat to mellow and from ballsy to beautiful. Suite II opens with a future -meets-classical piece, before the sexy rock n' roll of Dance Or Die leads into the dance inducing Faster. Locked Inside is a damn decent love song, which has become one of my personal favourites on the album, with the upbeat and catchy lyrics: "oh how, oh how I need you baby, to keep me from going crazy, I really need you baby, need you to stay". Monae then takes it down a notch for a moment with Sir Greendown, before blasting into the pure R