Colombian pop dazzler Shakira has proven a tad irksome in the past with good singles but patchy albums - but this is her best effort yet.
Shakira is a bit of a pop anomaly. Where exactly did she come from? What the hell is she actually singing about half of the time? And that thing she does with her hips - it's not natural, is it? It seemed for a time that the Colombian popstrel would disappear back into the shadows as quickly as she emerged from them, retiring to whatever island Chesney Hawkes, Steve Brookstein and the blokes who did 'Who Let the Dogs Out?' currently reside on.
Instead of proving a one-hit wonder, however, she proceeded to launch an impressive assault on the English-speaking music biz, replete with disarmingly bonkers lyrics that made no sense, but somehow did make sense at the same time. 'She Wolf' is her third English-language album, and the production credits alone speak volumes: The Neptunes, Amanda Ghost and Wyclef Jean are amongst the big-hitters helping the 'kira cause. It shows, too. Leaning more towards electropop than mariachi horns and big ballads is a wise move for the singer, and a necessary one if she wants to maintain her success on a larger scale.
99% of the time it works, weaving Shakira's Latino roots into modern club tunes without losing any of her character ('Why Wait?', 'Good Stuff'). At others, she sounds a bit like a South American Kylie ('Did it Again') and even impressively manages to make trumpet noises with her mouth (the '80s Whitney vibe of 'Spy').
What's more, even when it doesn't quite have the same effect (the title track is a neat, catchy number, but not the best song here, and is she really singing "Matt Damon's not for me" on the big, glittering 'Men in this Town'?!), it's no big deal. This is a smart, sharp, sexy pop album that's a little bit bonkers and a big bit fun - just how it should be.
