N*E*R*D: Nothing – review

Notionally, N*E*R*D are the rock-fusion outfit of super-producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, one completed by collaborator Shae Haley. But Nothing – N*E*R*D's most convincing record for some time – packs in more funk and vintage pop than it does tokenistic guitar-playing, as if Pharrell has been heavily rotating Raphael Saadiq and Cee-Lo. There's an added soupçon of Daft Punk on the single "Hypnotize U", too. Enticingly, the curveballs are even better than the out-and-out booty-shakers. "Help Me" is jazz-tinged and heartfelt, while "Life as a Fish" tries, quite successfully, to recast R&B's minimal sexpot (that'll be Pharrell) as a whimsical eccentric with the use of exploding federal buildings.