Music

With Mesdames Spears and Stefani on maternity leave, the Mariah shriekathon touring US enormo-domes and Kelis, Beyoncé, Janet Jackson and LeToya all waiting in the wings, here’s Christina Aguilera, reminding us that slutty teen superstars never die, they just have comprehensive image makeovers and start cribbing from more credible books. Despite the ‘Dirrty’ phase – when her personal ‘style’ made Cher look like an Amish matron – Aguilera, now 26, has always had far more kudos than Britney for the simple reason that she can sing the velour trackie bottoms off her former Mickey Mouse Club playmate. Her high-sheen mix of hip hop-edged pop and schmoove, R&B-toned balladry is hardly transgressive, but then, shape-shifting doesn’t sell albums by the gazillion or win fistfuls of Grammy awards.

The fourth LP by the four-octave diva is a double: disc one is a self-consciously ‘gritty’, retro soul affair that pays tribute to Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Eartha Kitt et al and cleverly casts Aguilera as part of that continuum; the second, nine-track LP was produced by the ubiquitous Linda Perry, whose (heavy) hand is all over its remodellings of ’20s-’40s blues, supper club jazz and show tunes. Disc one is superior, much of it (including stonking current single, ‘Ain’t No Other Man’) produced by DJ Premier. ‘Back In The Day’, ‘Understand’ and ‘Slow Down Baby’ are the highlights, suggesting respectively ‘Off The Wall’-era Jacko, Mary J Blige tackling ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ and Gladys Knight And The Pips, had they recorded for Roc-A-Fella. Along with the moody ‘F.U.S.S.’ and the peppy, horn-punched ‘Still Dirrty’, they almost excuse the grisly ‘Oh Mother’, the anodyne R&B of ‘On Our Way’ and the LP’s cheesy kiss-off, in which fans recite ecstatic tributes to their heroine. It may be a mixed bag, but ‘Back To Basics’ should cause Aguilera doubters to seriously reconsider. Wearing chaps with high heels doesn’t damn you forever, after all.