‘Tomorrow’

‘Tomorrow’

Sean Kingston

(Beluga Heights/Epic)

Grade: B

In these increasingly complicated times, there’s something to be said for music that’s nice and easy.

Teenage sensation Sean Kingston has no aspirations of building anything serious or important with “Tomorrow” (Beluga Heights/Epic). It’s all about having a good time, and the 19-year-old — with help from producers J.R. Rotem, RedOne and Wyclef Jean — successfully delivers.

“Somebody call 9-1-1, shorty, fire burning on the dance floor,” Kingston sings with his likable Jamaican lilt on the first single, “Fire Burning.”

With its uptempo beat and mainstreamed dancehall touches, “Fire Burning” sets the stage for the album and captures what Kingston does best.

The combination of reggae-tinged pop melodies and upbeat dance backdrops are perfect for the kind of escapism Kingston wants to offer on “Tomorrow.” He touched on his hard times growing up in Jamaica on his debut.

But this time out, he doesn’t get more serious than “Face Drop,” his next single, which talks about how chubby guys sometimes struggle with the ladies, singing, “Sayin’ that I look better if I was thinner, don’t you know you shoulda loved me for my inner.”

Kingston gets a bit of rock edge teaming up with Good Charlotte on “Shoulda Let You Go” and taps into a bit of Jackson 5-ish innocence on the super-sweet “Ice Cream Girl” with Wyclef Jean.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

‘Monsters of Folk’

Monsters of Folk (Shangri-La)

Grade: C

The three names above the title in this indie supergroup are songsmith Conor Oberst, guitarist Matt Ward and singer Jim James of My Morning Jacket. The fourth and perhaps more crucial player is multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis, Oberst’s partner in Bright Eyes and the musical glue that holds together this debut by the ad hoc group, which first toured in 2004.

All of these guys are gifted, and though this is more of a semi-electronic pop-rock record than its name suggests, “Monsters of Folk” boasts a half dozen excellent tunes. Most of them are sung by James, starting with the giddy “Losin Yo Head” and including the self-examining C&W swinger “The Right Place.” Oberst has his moments as well, especially on the typically Dylan-y “Man Named Truth.” But Ward seems to have saved all of his sleepiest numbers, such as the aptly titled “Slow Down Jo,” for this side project. Mainly this sounds like an assemblage of solo efforts that doesn’t add up to more than the sum of its parts.

— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Wild Young Hearts’

Noisettes (Mercury)

Grade: B

The sparkling disco of “Don’t Upset the Rhythm” and girl-group bounce of the title track of the Noisettes’ “Wild Young Hearts” might sound cynical to anyone expecting more of the same unbridled garage-punk-soul that the U.K. trio premiered on their ’07 debut, “What’s the Time Mr. Wolf?” But the spirited diversity that defined that album hasn’t disappeared; it just stretches in new, more commercial directions.

Singer/bassist Shingai Shoniwa seems to have looked around at peers such as Lily Allen, Santigold, and Amy Winehouse, and said, I can do that, too. And she does, with the jazzy shuffle of “Sometimes,” the new-wave pop of “24 Hours,” and the string-plucked soul of “Never Forget You.”

— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘acquired taste’

Delbert McClinton

(New West)

Grade: B

“Acquired Taste” opens in typical Delbert McClinton fashion: The funky roadhouse R&B of “Mama’s Little Baby” gives way to the bittersweet soul of “Starting a Rumor,” and then into the gutbucket honky-tonk of “Can’t Nobody Say I Didn’t Try.” In other words, the grizzled Texas native continues to defy genre boundaries with often swaggering aplomb.

Which is not to say that, pushing 70, the Nashville-based singer and songwriter is not willing to try new things. McClinton turns over production this time to Don Was, known for his work with aging rockers. So, mixed in with the usual Delbert fare you get an up-tempo number, “When She Cries at Night,” that is shockingly pop, and almost loungelike piano ballads such as “Wouldn’t You Think [Should’ve Been Here by Now].” McClinton brings the weight of his experience to these touching ballads but they also highlight the fact that there’s a thin line between a voice that’s full of weathered character and one that’s merely shot, and for the first time, he comes close to crossing it.

— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer