"This might sound to you a bit odd." -- Shakira (Underneath Your Clothes)

Music "But this goes beyond what I had hoped, because it is unhinged in some kind of fundamental way. It is not an avant-garde record by any means, but there is something extremely avant about Shakira's voice. This strange instrument, made up of equal parts Cher and Alanis and Nancy Sinatra, is always veering offtrack and back on, bursting into weird filigrees at odd moments because she just can't stop the emotions flooding her gypsy soul. Or maybe it's just because she's insane. Either way, it's thrilling and gives even the softer stuff here, like "The Day and the Time", an edge that most pop singers can rarely achieve." -- Matt Chiluba of Pop Matters review Shakira's new Oral Fixation, Vol. 2. I'm very excited. I especially like the cover which pleasingly bonkers and reminds me of the photographs which used to turn up on the old Top of the Pops compilations, with added symbolism. See also Matt's review of Laundry Service.