‘Defying Gravity’

‘Defying Gravity’

Keith Urban (Capitol)

Grade: B+

On “Defying Gravity,” Keith Urban sounds like a man at peace, a man who has stifled both the personal demons that led him into rehab in 2006 and the industry carping about whether the Aussie singer-songwriter can be “country enough.”

For the first time in his six albums, Urban doesn’t seem to care what anyone else thinks. His new single, “Kiss a Girl,” is as poppy as he gets.

But the real change on “Defying Gravity” is in the lyrics. No ballads about regret this time. Instead, he’s focused on living in the moment and enjoying it. It’s well placed, since that support has given Urban the confidence to defy all sorts of expectations and has led him to even broader success.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

‘R.O.O.T.S.’

Flo Rida (Atlantic)

Grade: C

The last time we heard from Flo Rida — throaty rapper extraordinaire — the Southern gentleman went as “Low” as he could go. “R.O.O.T.S.” finds Flo going round. “Right Round,” actually. That’s the cleverly sampled “Dead or Alive” smash Flo’s snagged for his effervescent electro-hop. What’s sparkling about that crib isn’t the crispness of its mashup hitmakers. It’s that for all of its joyful bounce, “Round” loses none of Rida’s sluggish, sinister crank. It just lifts him higher. From there, Rida takes to “Available” with the slipperiest of grooves, only to express love for God and goodness after growing up from ghetto on the title track and beyond.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘It’s Blitz!’

Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Interscope)

Grade: B

“It’s Blitz!,” the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ third full-length album, follows up from the punkish stylings of 2003’s “Fever to Tell” and 2006’s meaty rock “Show Your Bones” with synthesizer, not guitar, at the forefront.

The first single, “Heads Will Roll,” is just the kind of dance-rock tune one can picture pumped through the speakers of an indie club in Los Angeles, NYC or just about any urban hipster-filled town.

Co-produced by David Andrew Sitek, whose group TV on the Radio has brought back electricity to New York rock, “It’s Blitz!” combines an ’80s New Order dance flair with touches of vulnerability.

— Solvej Schou, Associated Press

‘Quiet Nights’

Diana Krall (Verve)

Grade: C+

Diana Krall’s albums should come with a warning label: Do not use while operating heavy machinery. This is not a knock — Krall’s round, relaxed voice is a nuanced instrument ideally suited for, as this album’s title indicates, quiet nights. With this collection delving exclusively into the worlds of classic ballads and bossa nova, the singer is in an even quieter place.

Which is a bit of a shame. There’s nothing terribly wrong with Krall’s breathy take on Antonio Carlos Jobim with a faithfully bouncy “The Boy From Ipanema” and “Quiet Nights”; the songs glide by with such an evenhanded subtlety it’s almost subliminal. Still, Krall is in fine voice throughout.

— Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times