Flesh Tone [CD]

One look at the sleeve design makes it clear that Kelis is not about to be turned into some kind of bland, generic dance artist. She risks a back cover shot which peels away her skin to reveal every sinew beneath and a centrefold in which she is presented Sphinx-like as half woman and half animal.

It's this sense of being slightly off-kilter that has always informed Kelis' work. 'Flesh Tone' sees her move firmly into an electro/house sound and yet she remains distinct - this feels genuinely inventive and fresh.

Lead single 'Acapella' still sounds stunning - the Donna Summer vibes competing with an almost atonal, throbbing backing that at first threatens to overwhelm it but eventually enables the track to take flight. Hugely uplifting and anthemic.

It must be said that the songwriting is at times a bit disappointing. The chorus of 'Emancipate', for example, features the phrase 'Emancipate Yourself' repeated sixteen times. There is also a lack of melody in some places, with the (albeit catchy) hooks covering up some occasionally dull tunes.

Yet the sheer joy of the surging basslines on tracks like 'Home', 'Brave' and '22nd Century' is undeniable. There is also some variety - first track 'Intro' is a lovely minor-chord piece of Euro synth pop. Final track 'Song For The Baby' is the most instantly appealing song on the album - lyrically similar to 'Acapella' (celebrating the love she has for her new baby) it also has a sweeter, Salsoul-era disco feel.

At only nine tracks long, this is an album that should be heard in full. With tracks segued into one another (not mixed, but musically linked together) it's a collection that takes Kelis into new, exciting musical territory.

It may come as a surprise to younger Dance music fans that in the 80s, African-American artists helped lay down the foundations of what has since became an almost exclusively European music genre. Before Black music was swallowed up by the RnB revolution, Hip Hop and House musicians experimented and developed new urban sounds and new tricks of getting people onto the dance floor that in the 90s and 2000s were pretty much abandoned in favour of Jamaican influenced dancehall and pop styles.

Over the last couple of years we've seen the beginnings of a new eagerness in the Black music scene for Dance music, with artists like Kelly Rowland and Beyonce working with DJs to create Dance versions of RnB tracks and pop acts like The Black Eyed Pease introducing Dance sounds into their music. In the UK, influential artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Wiley have written tracks specifically in the Dance genre, such as Bonkers and Wearing My Rolex.

Kelis' subversively titled album Flesh Tones marks the full return of black artists to the Dance genre. The sounds are still (tangentially) influenced by RnB, but most of the tracks are true Dance tracks with pop or RnB overtones, rather than RnB tracks done in a Dance style. This is a welcome innovation for both the Dance and RnB genres, which have become over-commercialised and detached from their early, more intense and harder sounds.

I'll leave the music itself to other reviewers, but will say that this album requires several listenings as the fusion sound is a bit jarring at first. The tracks often do things that are common in the RnB genre but not European Dance (or vise versa) and this can be disconcerting. However, as the tracks become more familiar you'll find yourself immersed in a musical style that has the uplifting qualities of good Dance combined with the sexiness of old-style House music. This is the album I've listened to most since Air's Talkie Walkie in 2004 and the Dance album I've enjoyed most since Prodigy's Fat of The Land back in 1997.

This album is the future of music for the next ten years, and is the first truly fresh sound I've heard in a long, long time.

Short and simple..... First listen was awfull..... Second listen was good.... Third listen is still great!! On a serious note, I've been a great fan of Kelis since her first album. I didn't know where this album would meet me on a personal level due to her new dance sound but it has hit the spot sweetly! I think her independent vocal style has made the album to be honest. A dance tune can be repetative but Kelis has generated her own spark and sound on each of the tracks to make it not only catchy but unique! 5 stars for taking the balls to go in this different direction.... 4 stars for the album!!!