Nomadic sex fiend Jimmy Edgar has found a new home at Hotflush, but not a whole lot has changed in his purple-hued world of robot decadence. Majenta is scantily clad in the same skeletal synth funk, though it was apparently conceived in a passionate flurry of creativity rather than the belaboured nature of his previous works. On the surface Majenta isn't anything close to a reinvention, but it's a tighter record that struts and gyrates in a more assured fashion than the sprawling XXX, and quite possibly represents Edgar's most full-blooded work yet.
Majenta springs to life with a trio of tracks that hearken back to earlier work, only this time they hit harder and swell larger. "Too Shy" spurts and splatters with a striking amount of layers all working in chaotic tandem, and a slippery, lubricated bassline that feels like it's constantly snaking its way out of reach. If Edgar's cold brand of mechanically-assisted funk has ever seemed at odds with his overtly sexual themes, it's not a problem on "Sex Drive," where the drum machines go beserk in ecstatic climax behind lyrics like "pull out my dick and let you lick." Meanwhile, he basically becomes a sleazy preacher on the unwisely titled "This One's for the Children" (here's a hint: it really, really isn't), and he plays with vague S&M themes on "I Need Your Control" propped erect by stiff, throbbing drums.
We're all familiar with Edgar's deadpan style as well as his love for silken vocoders (well-represented here on "Touch Yr Bodytime" and the arpeggio-heavy "Heartkey"), but Majenta betrays Edgar's new label in its midsection, with two tracks that make pouty, seductive faces at contemporary bass music. "Indigo Mechanix (3D)" and "Let Yrself Be" both feature chopped-and-diced sampled vocals rather than Edgar's own, and ride on short, jittery jabs, like Edgar has Sepalcure chained up in his musty sex dungeon. These two tracks edge towards a potential evolution in his sound, bolstered by the short interludes "Attempt to Make It Last" and "Hrt Real Good," which utilise massive, gated drums. That echo chamber does a lot to make his music sound bigger and better than ever, but the interludes are teasingly brief, like a particularly heartbreaking case of premature... well, you know.
But for all the talk of moving forward, Edgar still sounds most at home in his tacky bachelor pad of a comfort zone. My first experiences with Majenta left me unsatisfied, but it's an album that grows on you like a particularly nasty case of whatever Edgar sang about on "I Wanna Be Your STD" back in the day. "My rhythm is a physical motion," he sang on previous album XXX, but that dubious lyric has never felt more relevant than on Majenta, where Edgar's sex addict schtick finally feels in tune with the beats. He's still no Prince, but he's more enjoyable than ever as just Jimmy Edgar.
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Tracklist: Jimmy Edgar - Majenta
 01. Too Shy
02. This One's for the Children
03. Sex Drive
04. Indigo Mechanix (3D)
05. Attempt to Make It Last
06. Let Yrself Be
07. Touch Yr Bodytime
08. Hrt Real Good
09. I Need Your Control
10. Heartkey
11. In Deep
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