Let's Talk About Chicks, Man...

OK, I'm no David Cook, but I do wanna talk about chicks, man. Specifically new music from the ladies...

First, we have producer-to-the-stars Darkchild trying to out-dream The-Dream with an "Umbrella"-esque feel-good jam. Brandy is back with a new album December, and the lead single is war-time lullaby with a beat called "Right Here (Departed)" The video is ham-handed in it's message, (ala "Pocketful Of Sunshine") but the song is pure joy. The singer/actress releases Human on December 9th.

Speaking of singer/actresses, Beyonce's double disc I Am... Sasha Fierce releases tomorrow. I'm not crazy about the Chris Gaines style marketing ploy, but "If I Were A Boy" is an acoustic soul/pop hybrid. Addressing the double standard between the sexes is not a new pop idea, but Beyonce brings an emotional edge lacking from a track like Christina Aguilera's "Can't Hold Us Down" Others may be all about "Single Ladies" (which is a fantastic track in it's own right, plus gave us a brilliant SNL sketch with my other future boyfriend, Justin Timberlake) but I'm really in love with Beyonce as a boy. Of course, if she was a boy I'm doubting she would "drink beer with the guys" more I do believe she's a better man than I. (Oh, and I'm loving that she used her all-female band for the EMA performance of the song! It's more gender-queer than Katy Perry ever dreamed of being.)

"Can't Hold Us Down" is one of the few singles missing from Christina's Keeps Getting Better... A Decade Of Hits. But the album gives us two new songs, plus two new versions of prior hits. "Genie 2.0" was given a preview at the VMAs this year, and the full version is amazing. I just bought this military-style jacket from DC and when I'm driving down the highway in it and this uber-modern electronic song comes on I fell like a post-apocalyptic general weaving in between mobile storage units. I have to save my boyfriend (played by LL Cool J) and our puppy from a cyborg mad scientist on the way, too. I have a vivid imagination sometimes.


One other album track you should be checking out is from Taylor Swift's new album, Fearless. "White Horse" is the emotional opposite of my previous favorite off the new CD, "Love Story" In that song, Romeo sweeps in to save the day and whisks Juliet off in a storybook ending. "White Horse" is grounded in a more realistic emotional space. Against a light jazz piano, acoustic guitar and a country fiddle a story unfolds of childhood romantic fantasies crushed. But even though "I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale. I'm gonna find somebody someday who might actually treat me well... it's too late for you and your white horse to come around." Taylor Swift is growing into one of the most interesting songwriters in the business. "White Horse" actually made it's premiere on Grey's Anatomy, the launching pad for indie singer/songwriters like Ingrid Michealsen. She fully deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as country music's finest female writers like Dolly Parton and Shania Twain.