Her fifth studio release, New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh, finds the singer delivering no-holds-barred lyrics about lovemaking, love longing and, at times, love lost.

[The album was] rush-released by Def Jam on a low budget. It's a fact that's somewhat hard to hide behind the set's lean production and uneven narrative. But there's cohesion among most of the 13 tracks.

As on Volume One, Ward's performance and production excel, and his song arrangements move effortlessly between heart-rending and cheery.While Ward's musicianship remains the magic behind She & Him, Deschanel's lyrical growth on Volume Two proves she can hold her own alongside a well-respected partner.

Every song comes and goes in less than three-and-a-half minutes (and most in a lot less) as the band makes up in ramshackle charm what it lacks in glossy production.

Lovely moments abound, but the overall effect is less intoxicating.

The 16-year-old's follow-up to last November's "My World" shrewdly elevates him from a fleeting teen phenom into an evolving pop artist.

Splicing sounds and rhythms that sometimes complement and often compete, "Oversteps" creates an evolving harmony built on its own continuous assembly and breakdown.

The 82-year-old singer/pianist's mordant wit retains its vintage charm. In fact, Allison probably could have sung any of these new tunes about aging just as credibly 50 years ago.

While the album is fluid lyrically and musically, it's missing one thing: Monica's spunk and sass.

Aside from arrangement updates and catchy synth touches, the Bird & the Bee play it straight as George fetchingly channels Hall's vocal groove.

A collection of unconnected-though certainly related-songs that traverse all sorts of Southern terrain and situations. The group's songwriting trio (mainly Patterson Hood) offers the usual array of potent guitar riffs, stomping hard rock and vivid lyricism.

The 11-song set draws from some of the Big Apple's more established rock outfits, but still keeps the DIY feel of the Whigs' previous albums.

Tempering heavier blues-alternative influences with a softer folk-rock feel, Broken Side of Time leaves an unmistakable mark.

More than happy to engage the pop mainstream (once heard, the irresistible, day-glo chorus of "Superfast Jellyfish" is never forgotten), yet experimental enough to satisfy the hipsters, these cartoon characters just made the first 3-D album of the new decade.

The oddball trio's new set is edgy and experimental, containing lurid imagery and bold use of dissonance.

The singer matches Danger Mouse's inventive sonics with his usual complement of twisty-turny melodies and dense wordplay, though compared with the Shins' relatively high-octane 2007 release, "Wincing the Night Away," such jangly space-folk tunes as "Vaporize" and "Sailing to Nowhere" can seem a little snoozy.

Any listener who has experienced the emotions associated with a romantic split should appreciate the album.

The album is a sprawling, experimental work defined more by ambient synth hum and field-recording rustle than by melodic hooks or danceable grooves.

The Monitor probably could've borrowed more firepower from the ironclad battleship for which it's named, but the album nevertheless meshes old-fashioned themes with a modern twist.

The duo strays into territories of pop predictability with lines like "The music stops/And the music drops," but jj's sophomore effort is nonetheless charming and imaginative.

The result is a collection rich in fan favorites, but lacking in momentum.

Although it may not be a punk album through and through, songs like "The Stick" and "Where Was My Brain?" embody the genre's spirit with pounding drums, frenzied guitars and rushed deliveries (the former cut clocks in at less than two minutes), while "Mourning in America" mixes the genre's chaotic arrangements and political bite with Leo's usual power-pop flare.

Yet with its rowdy gang vocals and efficient club beats, Battle of the Sexes is ultimately more concerned with partying than with politics.

The Besnard Lakes amp up the energy with a more guitar-driven approach on third album The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night. But this added vigor doesn't distract from the rock band's more familiar fare of gentle vocal deliveries and downplayed drums.

Other guests include Linda Ronstadt ("A la Orilla de un Palmar"), Van Dyke Parks and Los Tigres del Norte (who both appear on "Canción Mixteca"). The result is as thrilling as it is enlightening.

Naledge's rhymes are a complex web of pop culture references and braggadocio. Double-O's pop-soul production serves as a bright, sugary backdrop for Naledge's brag-rap.

The artist's familiar smoky vocals and the consistently rich production draw the listener in on his latest release, "Get Off on the Pain."

For an album with crowded electro-pop instrumentation, the music isn't overbearing, and Little Boots' cheeky lyrics never lose any of their dry attitude.