EPIC/SONY
AWOOO! SHE’S A cultural icon. Honestly. There is no other Grammy Award winning Columbian lady on the planet who is happy to bang on about how you can’t confuse her breasts for mountains whilst gyrating a pair of massively uncontrollable hips. Industry gold.
Releasing what is technically her eleventh album, Shakira’s She Wolf is stuffed full of her usual Latina-Arabic goodness such as ‘Gypsy’ and has had all kinds of legendary hands on it including those of Pharrell and Wyclef Jean. Seriously. The Perfect Gentleman actually features on ‘Spy’, where Shakira’s voice mimics a trombone in the bridge and may be the only stalker themed song in history that fuses blues and electro.
The surprise track Men In This Town is certainly radiotastic but it restricts the belly-dancing songstress to a sound that’s too easy for her. Still, there’s consolation in the snake-charmingly sexy Why Wait. Mmmm. Bongos and synth.
Speaking of synth, She Wolf is a decent pop record, but Loba – exactly the same song but with Spanish lyrics – is so much better for her uniquely honeyed growl. A friend commented that “clearly the hits don’t lie.” Hell yeah, you know it’s cheesy, and you know it’s right.
4 stars
// published Student Direct
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