After a pair of English language albums that failed to reignite the spark she found on her debut, and a successful Spanish album sandwiched between the flops, Jennifer Lopez returns to her dance-floor roots on her latest. Lopez pulls in a bevy of songwriters and producers for the album, including StarGate, Taio Cruz, Lady Gaga and RedOne, resulting in an album that lacks the focus to see where it excels.
The album is at its best when the pace is cranked up on the club bangers, with the thrusting synth and beat assault of "Papi" finding Lopez singing about dancing for her man even if he is not right next to her, "Move your body, move your body / Dance for your papi". She manages to make auto-tune charming on swaggering Fergie-like jam "Good Hit", fuelled by a stuttering beat and attitude filled vocals asking, "Don't you want me to have your baby / Don't you wish I was your boo?"
The album gets into trouble with the midtempo mediocrity that slows the party down. Generic pop filler like the syrupy sludge of "Run The World" leaves you wishing there was a dance track in its place. Lighthearted club-ready bonus track "Hypnotico", co-written by Lady Gaga, leaves you wondering how some of the mid-tempo sludge was chosen ahead of it, and what else was kept off the album in error. Grinding synth winding its way around a stepping beat on blippy, high-energy "Invading My Mind" and the bumping bass and effervescent, panting synth of jittery "Villain" serve her much better, with the latter finding Lopez delivering a strikingly sultry, whispered vocal.
Lopez proves a competent singer on the dance tracks, where the vocals do not matter as much, but delivers uneven performances when the tempo drops. Disco ballad "Starting Over" finds painfully searing vocals and horrible lyrics, "He makes me sad / Makes me mad / I want to give him all I have". The album's most personal song, "One Love" finds nasally vocals derailing her recollections of previous relationships and adoration for her husband. The Ibiza inspired drippy synth blend and energetic beat of "On The Floor" finds Lopez delivering the most lifeless vocals of the album, with a pair of raps from Pitbull and the kinetic energy of the music saving this carefree tune from its bland vocals.
It is not all bad news vocally, as she delivers a solid vocal on the galloping synth of "(What Is) LOVE?", examining women without positive parental relationships struggling to find healthy relationships of their own. Love struck ballad "Until It Beats No More" finds her delivering some of the album's best vocals, leaving you questioning some of the song choices. In the end, Jennifer Lopez's latest is only a few tracks away from being a great pop album. It at least leaves you hoping she gets it right next time around, which is more than you could say for her last two English language albums.
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