The-Dream

Love King (Def Jam)

The-Dream makes everything sound easy.

Whether it’s the smashes he’s worked on for others — Rihanna’s Umbrella and Hard, Beyoncé’s Single Ladies or Justin Bieber’s Baby to name a few — or the songs he’s built for his previous two albums, The-Dream (a.k.a. Terius Nash) never seems to break a sweat.

Love King is no different, packed with simple, infectious melodies and seemingly stream-of-consciousness lyrics. The title track is basically a list of his favourite girls crossed with product placement (“Got girls on my Sprint, my AT&T, got girls on T-Mobile, Metro if it’s local”) and the current single Make Up Bag features relationship advice that boils down to avoiding fights by buying your girlfriend expensive cosmetic carriers. As ill-advised as that sounds, somehow the loping rhythm — and T.I.’s cameo — makes it work.

It’s a formula The-Dream uses repeatedly, with success on F.I.L.A. (short for Fall in Love Again) and with excessive strain on Sex Intelligent, where he declares, “It’s like trying to rob me with a BB gun, but my love gets it poppin’ like the Taliban,” and Florida University, which is not about higher education.

Luckily, The-Dream does try to challenge himself. Yamah, with its Minneapolis funk groove, is clearly his way of trying to write an ode to 1999-era Prince, while the stark February Love seems like a nod to Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak.

And it’s that striving that elevates Love King from simply being more radio-ready filler from the self-proclaimed “Radio Killa.”

Scissor Sisters

Night Work (Universal)

Rather than trying to reinvent themselves for their third album, Night Work the Scissor Sisters seemed bent on reinventing the dance music they loved instead. Night Work plays like a DJ set from 1986 — complete with elements of George Michael (Whole New Way), Devo (Running Out) and Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Invisible Light) — reworked for a more gay-friendly and Euro-loving time. With the single Fire With Fire, where Jake Shears sounds like Elton John fronting Erasure, and the Madonna-ish Skin Tight, the Scissor Sisters do their best to bridge generation gaps and built a whole new party vibe.

glenn.gamboa@newsday.com

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