New Amerykah, Part Two (Return of the Ankh) Universal***

It took time for the world to reconnect with Erykah Badu thanks to her 2008 release, New Amerykah, Part One (4th World Order). Over a decade on from Badu's grand entrance with Baduizm, here was an album where a larger audience could finally click with Badu. The follow-up sees her turn from the political to the personal with an album of soulful, slinky, seductive love tunes. It's an interesting if over-egged throwback, with the languid Badu's clued-in flights of lyrical fancy locked into tight, predictable r'n'b grooves. Producers Karriem Riggins, 9th Wonder, Madlib, Georgie Anne Muldrow and James Poyser don't stray from the script. A pity, because as non-album taster Jump in the Airshowed, Badu soars when she swims in the deep end. For now, though, Badu appears content to let the sweet panache of the lovely Out My Mind Just in Timeor the horizontal funk of Window Seatset the pace. See erykahbadu. com

Download tracks:Window Seat, Out My Mind Just in Time