Ciara, The Evolution

Normal teenagers grow up. R&B singers experience evolution. At the grand old age of 21, Ciara Princess Harris reflects on the two years since her crunk-powered debut: "My faith is stronger; I'm much more confident; my jeans even fit a little different." Such nuggets of insight are strewn throughout The Evolution. Fortunately, we need not dwell on the significance of Ciara's waist size while a platoon of hit producers (Lil Jon, Rodney Jerkins, et al) are making the most of her versatile, if anonymous, voice. Aside from some flat, self-important ballads, the lodestar is synthy 1980s urban pop: the brilliant, Neptunes-produced I Proceed channels Janet Jackson; Get Up winks at Kraftwerk's Tour de France; and vocals are stuttered as if electro never went away. Ciara is no Beyoncé yet, but a song as good as Like a Boy, a flashback to Destiny's Child at their exhilarating peak, suggests that she one day might be. Evolution allowing.