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Shakira's eponymous tenth album is surprisingly her most heartbroken yet. Which might come as odd seeing as she's recently had a son with her footballer boyfriend Gerard Pique but nevertheless, her noticeable shift into raw, expressive lyrics is indeed refreshing.
The same charming Latina qualities in her voice can of course be heard but Shakira's evidently chosen to work with producers who have a bit more power in mind. This manifests itself in the thumping bass and drums on tracks such as "Broken Record" and "Spotlight" as well as the awe- inspiring "Empire" in which Shakira yells as if she's a primal beast.
Yet this kind of power is lost on tracks such as "Can't Remember To Forget You" the lead single featuring Rihanna in which you question whether there is any chemistry between the two at all. The strong South American and reggae influenced sounds on songs like this can be heard distinctly, but it often feels a little too safe and bland.
However on "Medicine", Shakira is oddly paired with country singer Blake Shelton which is more left-of-centre than a Rihanna collaboration but strangely works. She proves that she can in fact make a love song which will most probably resonate in the Top 40. It's nothing very groundbreaking about it as shown by the lyric "You're my medicine," but it still feels sincere enough to be listenable.
"23" extends that atmosphere even further and is again, a simple track which Shakira brings enough flavour to vocally to sound entertaining. This track typifies what's best about this album: a lot of the time it's simple. But there's always something unique and captivating about Shakira's soulful voice. There's bound to be a track on here that will make you smile during the summer.
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