01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, June 25, 2006

Nelly Furtado

Loose (Geffen)

When last we saw Nelly Furtado, she was celebrating her new baby with an album of multi-culti earth mama tunes that were well-intentioned, but not, well, you know, entertaining. Unlike her peppy, girl-power debut, Whoa, Nelly!, her follow-up, Folklore (both DreamWorks), did not catch on.

Now, Furtado is back -- with an album titled Loose (Geffen) and a seductive single called "Promiscuous." (Hmm, what exactly is she trying to say?)

Double-entendres aside, Loose is like a master's class in how to turn around a career.

Furtado took her time to write a bunch of great, current-sounding songs she believed in. She hooked up with Timbaland, a great producer who "gets" her and surrounds the songs with hot beats. And now, she -- not to mention everyone around her -- is ready to work her butt off to promote it.

The first four songs on Loose will probably stand among the best in pop this year, all mining big, chugging synth-heavy grooves such as the one that drives the irrepressible "Promiscuous," but using them for different effects.

The dramatic "Afraid" balances Timbaland's dark grooves with a hyper, face-your-fear empowerment rap from Furtado, who even quotes from R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)." "Glow" is a playful romp that makes the most of Furtado's agile phrasing and vocal range, while the pairing of "Maneater" and "Promiscuous" sounds both refreshing and retro, oozing attitude and flirtiness.

Timbaland, who first enlisted Furtado for Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On," also lets her follow her own instincts -- in the catchy mix of silky R&B and aggressive percussion on "Showtime" or the early-Madonna, freestyle feel of the plinky "Do It," or the pretty, Avril Lavigne-ish ballad "In God's Hands."

Furtado doesn't deny her world-beat side either, with the catchy "Te Busque" with Juanes and the quirky Spanglish-laden "No Hay Igual."

With Loose, Furtado seems primed to move into that Gwen Stefani role in pop music -- the savvy singer who rolls out one clever hit after another, dominating the charts for years to come. And she looks like she'll have fun doing it.

-- GLENN GAMBOA

Newsday

Dr. John

Mercernary: The Songs of Johnny Mercer (Blue Note)

Near the end of his celebration of one of the greats of American song, Dr. John offers the set's only original: "I Ain't No Johnny Mercer." Well, yes. But as he "fonkifies" these Mercer tunes in his inimitable New Orleans fashion, it's clear that the Crescent City native born Mac Rebennack continues to occupy his own special place in American music.

Maybe it's their shared Deep South heritage or the blues underpinnings of some of the numbers, but the Mercer songs lend themselves better to the Dr. John treatment than Duke Ellington's did on the piano man's uneven 2000 tribute, Duke Elegant. "Blues in the Night," "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," "Lazy Bones," "Moon River" -- most of the selections are steeped in Dr. John's rich, Big Easy gumbo, the lively warmth of the R&B/jazz/funk playing off the hipster cool of a growly voice and its thick swamp patois.

-- NICK CRISTIANO

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Dr. John is at the JVC Jazz Festival-Newport at Fort Adams State Park, Fort Adams Drive (off Ocean Drive), on Aug. 13, along with The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Angelique Kidjo, Chris Botti, Savion Glover and many others. Tickets are $65 in advance, $70 festival weekend (if available); $5 children under 12; children under 2 free. Reserved seating on the JVC Stage is $75. On-site parking is $6. The festival runs from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Call (401) 847-3700 or (866) 468-7619, or go to www.Ticketweb.com or www.festivalproductions.net.

Josh Ritter

The Animal Years (V2)

Ritter's fans have likened the 29-year-old singer-songwriter to a Gen-X Bob Dylan for years. And with The Animal Years, his first album for a major label, he's finally beginning to live up to the comparison.

Save for a few falsettos, Ritter doesn't sing so much as talk beautifully. Words dominate his sound, layered delicately over harplike acoustic melodies, some drums and the occasional piano chord. If his earlier work had a glib, whimsical lilt -- this is the man who wrote a song comparing the powers of love to fusion and photosynthesis -- "The Animal Years" has a more mature, probing tone.

The centerpiece, "Thin Blue Line," is a poetic, 11-minute Divine Comedy-like journey through the hell of the war on terror. Ritter may not quite be Dylan yet, but he's getting close.

-- EMMANUELLE SOICHET

Los Angeles Daily News

Josh Ritter plays at 8 p.m. Aug. 3, at a WBOS Free Concert, in Copley Square Park in Boston.

Regina Spektor

Begin to Hope (Sire)

Had she come along 10 years ago, Russian-born, New York-raised singer Regina Spektor might well have found herself at Lilith Fair, jamming for the neo-feminist masses alongside Jewel, the Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan.

Although that might have meant mega-exposure and massive record sales, Spektor is much better off in the '00s. Today, after all, female artists are less easily pigeonholed, and time has rendered the Lilith template -- lilting acoustic ballads best served with coffee and an organic muffin -- largely obsolete.

On Begin to Hope, Spektor mostly foregoes earnestness and sentimentality. Instead, she takes a blunt, pragmatic, often humorous look at life and love, singing with a voice that recalls both Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones, only with a slight Russian accent.

Musically, she bolsters her piano playing with guitar and drums, giving some songs breezy arrangements, others relatively complex ones. She's more successful when she keeps things light, as on "Fidelity," a fine summer single, and "On the Radio," which somehow gets away with referencing Guns N' Roses' "November Rain."

Even on less-tuneful tracks, such as "Edit," Spektor's wordplay warrants attention, making a read-through of the liner notes nearly as rewarding an experience as listening to the music.

-- KENNETH PARTRIDGE

The Hartford Courant

Widespread Panic

Earth to America (Widespread/Sanctuary)

Widespread Panic makes albums, but it probably doesn't have to.

The CDs don't sell like coveted tickets to the band's live shows and can seem like a collection of little feeder fish -- something slightly inconsequential that's just there to nourish a bigger beast: the sprawling Panic concerts. In fact, the latest album features tracks like "Goodpeople" and "May Your Glass Be Filled" (an elegy for the band's late guitarist Michael Houser) that have been a part of the band's live repertoire for more than a year.

Still, there's nothing fishy about Earth to America. It was recorded at the storied Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, a facility that has played host to U2, the Rolling Stones and Bob Marley. The band has traveled outside its Athens, Ga., comfort zone, where most of Panic's previous studio albums were recorded with longtime collaborator John Keane.

Producer Terry Manning gives these songs a richer texture, and he also seems to bring out the more playful and adventurous side of Panic.

Among the highlights is "Second Skin," another live staple, which has a mesmerizing bass pulse and a welcome injection of eerie, droning strings. New guitarist George McConnell's chunky guitar melds nicely with John "JoJo" Hermann's organ on a cover of Bob Dylan's "Solid Rock."

The album isn't without skippable tracks, though. "Ribs and Whiskey" might sound tasty, but it's just pedestrian blues-rock.

As always, listening to Panic makes it seem as if the past 2 1/2 decades of musical history never happened. If that sounds good to you, then come on and feel the Panic.

-- SHANE HARRISON

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Ice Cube

Laugh Now, Cry Later (Lench Mob)

Considering that Ice Cube's most satisfying musical moment of the past dozen years was probably his 2003 reunion with Westside Connection -- and that his successful movie career (Barbershop and Three Kings) has kept musical moments of any kind far in the background -- the gangsta rap pioneer has plenty of ground to make up on Laugh Now, Cry Later.

It's hardly surprising that he tries to cover it all at once; the result is an album that is sometimes frustrating, yet also contains his most inspired work in ages.

Trying to make peace with the juggernaut of crunk is a mistake, as Lil' Jon's watered-down strip-club sound only inspires the usual lyrical leers. But Ice Cube struggles throughout to find suitable beats, with lots of generic G-Funk and few cuts worthy of his old N.W.A. band mate Dr. Dre.

A set of rhymes this promising deserves better, though. Laugh Now, Cry Later makes a serious attempt at reconciling the contradictions of being a thug on his way to being 40, and the title track (about the live-for-today mentality infecting black America) and "Child Support" (a complex metaphor about the inferior MCs that Cube's music has spawned) are particularly funny, furious and a reminder that Cube has more than just family-friendly films to offer.

-- DAN LeROY

The Hartford Courant

Susana Baca

Travesias (V2)

On Travesias, Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca coos like a schoolgirl flushed and woozy after a first kiss.

Baca, with her innocent yet sensuous voice, masterfully conveys the variety of emotions contained in these songs. But the album is also augmented by an infusion of international influences that impart a refreshing tone. Baca sings in Haitian Creole, English and Italian, and has the uncanny ability to make each language sound like her mother tongue.

On "Ne Quelque Part," an electric guitar adds its sinewy strands, a perfect complement to Baca's lovely voice. The Tosca String Quartet is also featured, serving as a wonderful addition to Baca's backup musicians. They give the traditional Peruvian Christmas song "Palomita Ingrata," originally sung by slaves, a rootsy, Appalachian feel.

Baca's last album, the compelling Espiritu Vivo, was recorded in Manhattan in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Travesias, which means passages, was recorded just before Baca was to begin studying Creole music at Tulane University in New Orleans; she escaped before Hurricane Katrina hit.

Once again, Baca delivers stirring songs that soothe during difficult times.

-- AIMEE MAUDE SIMS

Associated Press

Allison Moorer

Getting Somewhere (Sugar Hill)

After five uncompromising country torch-song albums failed to make her a star, Allison Moorer moves in a gritty pop direction with Getting Somewhere.

With her husband producing, the soulful-voiced seventh Mrs. Steve Earle (and sister of singer Shelby Lynne) shows a flair for hummable melodies set to garage-rock grunge. And while Getting Somewhere is essentially an upbeat, optimistic album in which hooky songwriting carries the day, Moorer's not afraid to dig deep: both "New Years Day" and "How She Does It" find her, for the first time, confronting her tragic childhood, in which her parents died in a murder-suicide.

-- DAN DeLUCA

The Philadelphia Inquirer