CHARA
Union
(Universal)

Chara’s music has always been full of contradictions. Crooning like a sweet pre-teen, her delivery nevertheless has a maturity beyond that of mere idols. Here, seemingly simple song names (“Boy,” “This Is My Car,” “Sweet Sweet”) hide a song-craft that’s superior to her sugarcoated first albums. Recent releases had shown Chara’s more daring side, pitching her as a kook—yet one significantly more approachable than her eccentric, similarly baby-voiced contemporary Yuki. On Union, Chara reclaims old territory, every track exuding the innocent charm that made her early-’90s releases (Happy Toy, Soul Kiss) so alluring. Light and refreshing, playful and curiously comforting, Union is top-notch disposable J-Pop at its finest. Robert Poole

JUBA DANCE
Orange
(Audio8)

Take a jazz and blues man from the south side of Chicago and transport him to Rio de Janeiro. Next, hook him up with a word-spouting poet and a rotating cast of producers and musicians. The result? Benjamin Lamar and Will Freyman and an otherworldly amalgamation of jazz, blues and hip-hop with Brazilian rhythms and abstract downtempo electronica. Sometimes the pair stretch too far, but when Lamar’s muted, Miles Davis-flavored trumpet and Freyman’s laconic vocal observations click on tracks like “Angela Jeanette,” the effect can be mesmerizing. Words like “eclectic” and “fusion” barely scratch the surface of Juba Dance’s ambitions. DG

CHARLOTTE HATHERLEY
The Deep Blue
(Sony Music Japan International)

While missing out somehow on the work of Ash, ex-guitarist Charlotte Hatherley’s second solo album comes as an agreeable surprise. Working with Frank Black producer Eric Feldman and PJ Harvey cohort Rob Ellis, Hatherley delivers a sprawling, 17-song opus that recounts the journey of an axe-wielding rock chick reaching maturity. Comparisons with post-grunge sisters like Garbage’s Shirley Manson come to mind, but Hatherley is her own woman, as capable of catchy pop numbers like “Behave” as she is of ethereal uplifters such as “Dawn Treader” (written with XTC’s Andy Partridge). With Sony taking a bet on this 27-year-old “guitar beauty,” audiences here may soon get a chance to take in one of her sets in person. DG

PAOLO NUTINI
These Streets
(Warner)

“Don’t treat me like a baby,” pleads 20-year-old Paolo Nutini in the opening track on this debut. Nutini’s lyrics paint him as a lovelorn teenager singing the blues, while his soulful vocals add a whole new dimension to that tried and tested formula. It is this heartfelt, gravelly voice that gives Nutini’s sound a ripeness beyond his years and saves this from being just another whiny “take me seriously” rant. These Streets is honest soul-baring that somehow manages to avoid descending into self-pity. Standout tracks “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty,” “Last Request” and the title track, for example, tackle older-woman-chasing, a dead-end relationship and hometown nostalgia—but each track lilts along so pleasantly that you can’t help but smile and want to give the guy a pat on the back. Mark Butterworth


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