Jamie Foxx — Intuition (J)

On his third release, Jamie Foxx hopes to recreate the success of his sophomore double-platinum chart topper Unpredictable. Jamie is as cautious about choosing his collaborators on wax as he is on celluloid. Numerous urban hitmakers line up to lend a hand to the Oscar winner’s beat-heavy third album. Foxx briefly resurrects his ability to channel Ray Charles in I Don’t Need It, while Digital Girl, another from The-Dream and Tricky, takes him into the world of dreamy dance pop and gets an assist from Kanye West. Number One (Let’s Get Dumb) is probably the strongest track on the album. Produced by Just Blaze, the track features Lil’ Wayne`A0crooning "If you want a soldier, baby, I could be your sergeant/ And girl if you’re Gaye, I could be your Marvin." Intuition presents a sampler of contemporary R&B styles from producers, including Timbaland, Just Blaze, Butter Beats and Calvo Da Gr8, giving the collection a disjointed air. The addictive She Got Her Own featuring Ne-Yo and Fabolous was originally featured on Ne-Yo’s Grammy Award nominated album The Year Of The Gentleman. It works well and is at home on Jamie’s album as well, with his verse being one of the highlights of the track. On the lead single, Just Like Me, Foxx’s smooth, synthetic croon rides confidently, while T.I.’s roughneck swagger provides the contrast. The bittersweet I Don’t Know tastefully and movingly references Marvin Gaye’s I Want You within a stripped-down arrangement anchored by kick drums and panning breaths. Foxx is one of only four Oscar winners to also have a No 1 album in America. The others include Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Barbra Streisand.

Best track: Number One
Worst track: Why
Rating: ***

Brandy — Human (Epic)

After 2004s Afrodisiac, this is Brandy Norwood’s first new album. Given its moody melodies and midtempo beats, "I make mistakes but I can’t turn back time / I’m only human, forgive me", from the title track, it’s hard not to hear Human as Brandy’s musical response to that experience. Renewing her alliance with Rodney Jerkins, whose production and co-songwriting work dominate the album’s first half, Brandy is evidently in a comfort zone that enables her to open up more than ever. This is demonstrated from the beginning, in The Definition, where she declares a clean slate with wavering buoyancy. Understated ballad Long Distance is just as good as If I Were A Boy and should be a global hit, beating with surging strings and tenderness. Warm It Up (With Love), is ostensibly Obama-inspired hymn that includes references to "change", "hope," and "something to believe in", while Piano Man, is an ode to the creative relationship often cultivated by a vocalist and the producer/songwriter. Right Here (Departed) is yet another Rodney Jerkins helmed track. The song is catchy and features a heavy beat over Brandy’s light vocals. Brandy stands her ground on the resolute Torn Down, a crisp mix of static synths, acoustic guitar, and hand claps. And she cheerfully surveys her life and declares it good enough on the low tempo amble of Camouflage.

Best track: The Definition
Worst track: Fall
Rating: **

David Binney — Cities And Desire (CC)

Not only is David Binney one of the foremost jazz musicians in the world (his prodigious technique, expressive tone and unique lyricism are world class), he is one of the few meaningful and engaging modern compositional voices. Cities and Desire is an aural travelogue, documenting cities that have become regular stops for Binney when he ventured out of the Big Apple. His compositional style combines simple melodies, driving grooves and parallel harmonies, as evident on Montreal, angular horn lines such as New York City, and lyrical ballads like Miami (his home town). What’s more, Binney’s compositions provide the perfect vehicle for his style of improvising and allowing the group to stretch out and explore the possibilities of interaction and intensity. He surrounds himself with a fine supporting cast, including Mark Turner on sax, Craig Taborn on piano, Thomas Morgan on bass, and Dan Weiss on drums. Toronto begins with Weiss on tabla. He’s no dabbler on this instrument as he’s already established through his work with guitarist Rez Abbasi. Rome, which begins with an introspective solo from Morgan, revolves around an irregular-metered but simple and staggered theme that dissolves gradually into the greatest abstraction to be found in any of Binney’s work. While David Binney is generally recognized as one of the premiere improvisers in jazz today, Cities and Desire, should do much in the way of solidifying his status as a composer of equal acclaim.

Best track: Toronto
Worst track: Carpenteria
Rating: ***

Album of the month
Britney Spears — Circus
(Jive)

For her sixth studio album, Circus, Britney Spears delivers her typical mix of sugary dance tunes and dramatic ballads about things with which she is well-versed: life in the spotlight, wild nights and love gone wrong. A seasoned cast of collaborators, including Danja, Bloodshy & Avant, Guy Sigsworth, and Max Martin, ensures that Spears’s sixth album hits all the proper sonic touchstones. Circus already has given her a big hit, the Cabaret-meets-Flashdance-flavored Womanizer, and considering the expensive production credits neatly lined up on each track, more seem inevitable. "Mr Photographer/ I think I’m ready for my close-up," she sings on Kill the Lights, quoting from the 1950s noir classic Sunset Boulevard — a movie about the degradations of fame — then adds, "All the flashin’/ Try’na cash in/ Hurts my eyes." In Blur, over dazed, wilting keyboard and guitar tones, Spears sings about a nightmarishly disoriented morning after, "Where am I? Who are you? What did we do last night?"

Broken Glass is one of the shortest, but most infectious dance-floor tracks. Spears also hits the mark with the down-tempo, love-infused Unusual You, and the regretful, R&B-minded Out From Under. The title track Circus splits the world between entertainers and observers, then announces "I’m a put-on-a-show kinda girl."

Best track: Womanizer
Worst track: Lace And Leather

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