Hot on the heels of the gloriously weird commercial stiff
She Wolf
,
Shakira
wrote and recorded
"Waka Waka,"
a football anthem that swept the globe during the throes of 2010 World Cup fever.
"Waka Waka"
provided the perfect pivot to the quickly recorded new album
Sale el Sol
, a set that shows no allegiance to any one sound or language.
mostly ditches the electro-throb of
in favor for a pan-global approach that's decidedly pop in flavor, sometimes riding heavy rhythms --
Pitbull
and
Dizzee Rascal
do show up on bonus English-language versions of
"Loca"
"Rabiosa"
-- but always relying on melody and texture, creating a tight 12-track record that's casual in its eclecticism but no less dazzling because of its relaxed tone. Particularly when compared to the stylized ambition of the two-part
Oral Fixation
feels breezy,
never calling attention to just how much ground she covers. Opening with a dose of anthemic soft rock in its title track,
eventually winds its way through the dancefloor (
"Loca,"
"Gordita"
), catches its breath on the ballad
"Antes de las Seis,"
offers up an infectious piece of pure pop in the vein of
the New Radicals
on
"Mariposas,"
beats all
U2
-inspired arena rockers at their own game on
"Devocion,"
adopts a cool new wave pulse on
"Tu Boca,"
and finds warmth within the art pop of
the xx
, whose
"Islands"
is a shimmering peak here. Despite all these sounds,
never once sounds disparate or overworked -- it's sunny and easy, its natural buoyancy disguising
's range and skill -- but listen closely and it becomes apparent that nobody makes better pop records in the new millennium than she does. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine