Spring Break
Fergie's solo CD frivolous but fun
ACHEL WEBSTER
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Fergie's new CD, "The Dutchess," is a little bit like musical junk food - it's hard to stop once you start, and there are some parts you do not want.
Her voice is uncharacteristically unpolished, not overproduced, and her lyrics are occasionally laughable, but the tracks are mostly fun.
One-quarter of the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas, Fergie (a.k.a. Stacy Ferguson) has the attitude, confidence and overt sexuality to sell even the silliest of songs on the disc, which was released Sept. 19.
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For instance, on the first track, the pop jewel "Fergalicious," Fergie and fellow Black Eyed Pea Will.I.Am sing for almost five minutes about how "tasty" the "boys" find her.
She also reveals her penchant for spelling words in songs: "T to the A to the S-T-Y / Girl, you tasty," go the lyrics.
However, it turns out to be one of the strongest dance tracks on the CD - an absolute guilty pleasure.
The tracks cover a wide variety of musical genres, which can be a positive aspect of Fergie's work - although it makes the album unfocused.
The first single, "London Bridge" - a catchy pop song that pretty much everyone has had stuck in their head for weeks - is not indicative of the rest of the album's content.
Fergie throws in a couple of predictable ballads, which are boring but mandatory for a female singer.
However, some curveballs await the listener. "Here I Come" samples The Temptations' song "Get Ready" and includes some hip-hop along with the horns.
Reggae-influenced "Mary Jane Shoes" features Rita Marley & the I-Threes and incorporates ska in a surprising, but not unpleasant, manner.
Other songs are more disappointing. Hip-hop megastar Ludacris appears on the album but contributes little to one of the poorer songs, "Glamorous."
Sometimes, the vocal mixing, like on "Pedestal," accentuates Fergie's questionable vocals in a way that quickly becomes irritating to the listener.
Fergie deserves recognition for this variety, but the album does not feel like a cohesive unit. Her personal style is too new to be truly developed.
About four of the 13 tracks are too slow and too monotonous for Fergie to make them work, but the ones that are meant to be fast and fun achieve that goal.
Some of her song-styling experiments are a little jarring, but at least she takes risks on an album that could have consisted of uniform bass beats and slightly raunchy lyrics.
