An introspective look at her life and her past two albums and what we get is a rejuvenated J. Lo trying new styles. She collaborates with several songwriters and producers like Rodney Jerkins, Rich Harrison, Fat Joe and her latest in line husband, Marc Anthony. But all this still does not matter for the album is slow in its bid to make a sure-fire success. The influence of pop, hip – hop, soul, funk and dance makes this album a varied one, which only real fans may grab.

One of the irritating but otherwise neat composition is the saxophone looped Get Right. Thefour second saxophone session, however gets soothed down the moment we have Jenny’s voice as she sings in the words, but again the moment she breaks it, the loop once again breaks up annoyingly. We’ve also got I got you, Cherry Pie that has a nice rhythm and Whatever you wanna do which features a neat funky bassline. Jenny has experimented on many more styles in her songs compared to her earlier albums.

It’s about relationships and what she wants to talk about in them. In Ryde or Die a peppy track, Jenny opens up her feelings when she says that ‘I would pawn the ring you gave me just to feed you If I had to….’ Her lyrics have not changed and are based on the love angle and even though she has pulled in hubby to write in and his daughter having sung a wee bit in Get it Right the whole album sadly fails to take off even after a long run. Some songs are also very personal to her and relate to instances in her life.

This is one place that Jenny doesn’t let down. She excels and gives off a splendid effort, be it the soft ballad (Can’t believe) This is Me to a must rewind on Hold you down (featuring Fat Joe) or even the added impetus in the second version of Get Right (featuring Fabolous). Her voice is still very sensuous in each song. She’s more confident, the songs are not about the little girl next door, its rather it’s a more matured sound.

There’s great flute work in Step into my world or even the wind chimes in ‘Hold you down’. It can surely be said that even one listen to the album will convince that none of the tracks have the kind of appeal that made Jenny from the Block or Waiting for Tonight such popular hits. : Lopez may claim to have gotten more confident about her singing abilities, but sadly her music and work are the same.

The songs are likeable, showing Lopez’s enthusiasm for making this new album. She hits off well on most pieces, her delivery sharp, music right pitched and lyrics speaking her mind out. But then again, not all are striking at first listen, so if you’ve liked her earlier work, chances are nothing will stop you from getting this album. The limited edition of the CD comes with two free testers of her perfumes ‘Still’ and ‘Glow’. There’s an impressive inlay card with some great pics of the lady.

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira