‘This Kind Of Love’

‘This Kind Of Love’

Carly Simon (Hear Music

Grade: A

After four decades as one of the world’s top singer/songwriters, with a truckload of hits that have helped shape pop music, you might think there’s little new ground that Carly Simon could plow. And you’d be wrong.

On her first album of original material in eight years, Simon ventures into Brazilian music with a passion, turning out a delicious, fresh pop record that will make you feel as if you’re dancing on a beach with sand between your toes and a sultry breeze in your hair.

The title track is a dusky, sensual ode to new, exotic romance, and “Island” is the kind of dreamy theme you would expect from the title, even paying homage to The Beatles’ “Sun King” in its intro.

Parenting is also a recurring theme in the album, from “Hold Out Your Heart” and “They Just Want You To Be There,” to “Sangre Dolce,” a true story about an Argentinian nanny Simon met in New York. She told the woman her baby was beautiful, but the caretaker broke into tears, revealing the child wasn’t hers; her own child was thousands of miles away while her mother worked to earn money by taking care of someone else’s child.

— Wayne Parry, Associated Press

‘Shine’

Estelle (Home School/Atlantic)

Grade: B

Whether with effortless R&B phrasing or a tart hip-hop flow, British newcomer Estelle shows that she suffers no fools — especially if they’re men.

The tangy “More Than Friends” finds Estelle, the first artist on R&B singer John Legend’s label, serving notice to an indecisive lover by admonishing, “If I wanted to be part-time, I’d be working at a check-out line” while on “No Substitute” she purrs, “I know the games you play so I’m through with you.”

That talk to the hand ’tude punctuates much of this playful, solid debut, especially on the cheeky “Wait A Minute [Just A Touch].” Produced by will.i.am (other collaborators include Wyclef Jean, Kanye West and Legend), “Wait a Minute” links feisty couplets (“just because we’re kissing/don’t mean we’re undressing”) to a stuttering beats, derived from an unlikely merger of music from Screaming Jay Hawkins and ’70s funk band Slave.

Despite being fed up, Estelle hasn’t given up. A duet with Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo, “Pretty Please [Love Me”] is a Motown-infused heartbreaker and the single “American Guy” — with a rote rap from Kanye — is a bubbling (almost excessively so) love song.

Granted, Estelle can overplay the “guys are dopes” card, but you can’t deny her sassiness and smarts.

— Amy Linden, Associated Press

‘Santogold’

Santogold (Downtown)

Grade: B

Philadelphia’s Santi White — who performs as Santogold — has enough things in common with Sri Lankan-Brit MC M.I.A. to make the comparisons inevitable. Both employ Diplo and Switch as producers. Both women have oodles of hipster cred. And both deal in hybrid music that’s simultaneously retro and futuristic.

But where M.I.A.’s dance blend dabbles in bhangra, dancehall, hip-hop and grime, Santogold conflates her power-punk, hip-hop, reggae and pop-rock influences into an entirely different stew.

Her self-titled solo debut shows off her stellar songwriting chops (she wrote most of R&B rocker Res’ 2001 debut, “How I Do”) and a daring willingness to surround her high-pitched wail in an array of noisy, clanging electro-beats and hard-driving melodies. The guitar-infused first single, “L.E.S. Artistes” recalls her R&B-rock roots as she sings of disingenuous scene-sters: “Stop tryin’ to catch my eye/ I see you good you forced faker/ Just make it easy/ You’re my enemy you fast talker.”

Still, Santogold’s strength lies more in her musical inclusiveness than her cynicism. She flits from dubby bliss of “Shove It” and the stop-start, bleep-synths of “Starstruck” to the space-agey sound effects and echo chambers of “My Superman” and the bubbly pop-rock of “Lights Out” and “I’m A Lady.” The genre jumping is not for the close-minded, but it’s obvious Santogold’s not here to adhere to any one pop sensibility.

On the glitchy-twitchy disc standout, “Creator,” she’s not afraid to express her sense of self-worth. Over the gargantuan bass drops, she chants: “Me, I’m a Creator/ Thrill is to make it up/ The rules I break got me a place/ Up on the radar.” She’s definitely got our attention.

— Brett Johnson, Associated Press

‘Rising Down’

The Roots (Def Jam)

Grade: B

Over the course of 15 years and seven studio albums — “Rising Down” being their eighth — The Roots have shown they’re not here to party. Not to suggest that the Grammy-winning, critically revered hip-hop band is dreary, but even when they tackle a subject that seems to be frivolous, like girls, as on the iTunes exclusive “Birthday Girl” with Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, it takes a serious tone: On that track, Black Thought offers a conflicted view on jailbait.

On their most political — albeit uneven — CD to date, the Roots pull no punches, intelligently addressing pharmaceutical companies and global warming (“between the green house gasses, Mother Nature’s spinning off its axis”) on “Rising Down,” and, on the undulating Fela Kuti-inspired “I Will Not Apologize,” the quest for integrity.

The music matches the lyrical intention, thick with foreboding (even claustrophobic) droning synths, much like those anchoring “Get Busy.” As usual, the Roots are motivated by drummer/ producer ?uestlove’s boom-bap — this is the lone rap act where the rapper isn’t the star, which can be problematic. Although he’s got much to say, Black Thought tends to say it with little inflection. Even his “solo” “75 Bars,” which refers to him spitting for 75 bars straight, begins to drag, as if changing things up equals watering things down. It’s not good when the guest stars — fellow MCs Mos Def, Saigon and Dice Raw — almost steal the show.

Ultimately, “Rising Down” will confirm what you like — or for some, dislike — about The Roots.

— Amy Linden, Associated Press

‘Third’

Portishead (Mercury)

Grade: A

Portishead, what kept you?

After an 11-year hiatus between studio recordings, Portishead provides a jaw-dropping return with their third disc, appropriately titled “Third.”

Made up of vocalist Beth Gibbons, sampler/programmer Geoff Barrow and guitarist Adrian Utley, Portishead’s first two discs are considered classics of electronica and trip-hop — particularly their flawless 1994 debut “Dummy.”

Foolishly unfair comparisons are sure to meet this disc, but none of the group’s three efforts sound alike — and here they have again created a distinct wall of sound and atmosphere to complement Gibbons’ haunting and sorrowful vocals, which leaves you in an hypnotic state.

The smoky jazz, subtle hip-hop beats, touches of trance and movie-soundtrack sensibilities remain hallmarks of Portishead’s sound, with acoustic guitar and trippy organ providing nice touches as well.

For all the layered complexity provided by Barrow and Utley, Gibbons is still the star of this show — and she sounds as heartbroken as ever (she wails, “I can’t deny what I’ve become. I’m just emotionally undone” on the outstanding “Magic Doors”).

Other standouts include the haunting “Hunter,” doom-laden tracks such as “Plastic” and “Small,” the sweet acoustic aside of “Deep Water” and the fractured precision of “Machine Gun” — which sounds just like one and will surely please longtime fans.

Much like Portishead’s previous efforts, “Third” will provide endless rewards over repeat listens — and leave you hoping they don’t go away for another 11 years.

— John Kosik, Associated Press