Come

For the artist intermittently known as Prince, the notion of spiritual death and rebirth has become the predominant theme in his work. Thus on the track "Solo," with its eerie liturgical ambience, sampled thunder and moody harp, Prince sings a keening falsetto confession: "Solo, my name is no one." Accepting all that as a given, this richly orchestrated set has the exploratory sound and feel of a classic Prince album, except that COME seems to be an attempt to explicate his legend once and for all ("Letitgo"), to make way for a new...well, your guess is a good as ours. The title tune mixes carnal and spiritual imagery in the classic Prince manner, as that ecstatic voice testifies over jazzy horns, big-band chord changes and a fat, greasy backbeat ("If you had a chance to see the future, would you try?"). Elsewhere, the sampled waves which open and close COME act as a recurring leitmotif, as Prince explores a series of jumpy dance grooves ("Pheromone" and "Loose!"), a moody tale of child abuse ("Papa"), a strutting R&B/hiphop anthem ("Race"), a brassy gospel-blues confessional ("Dark") and an explicit girl-guitar ecstasy ("Orgasm"). On COME, Prince appears before us one last time, a reminder of things past, a harbinger of revolutions to come.