On her third English language record, Shakira cranks up the sex vixen overtures merely hinted at on previous releases. Filled with wild beats and major crossover appeal, there’s hardly a song on She Wolf that doesn’t scream for chart or dancefloor attention.
Fully embracing dance grooves and electronica, Shakira remains equally faithful to her Latin and rock influenced roots, but enhances them with crazy beats mainly supplied by The Neptunes (who seem to have found their groove once again).
She Wolf, Did It Again and Long Time
The bulk of She Wolf deals with one main topic, men – the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between. Lead single “She Wolf” conquers the hunt, while stand out track “Did It Again” covers the bad romance.
Sultry and percussion-heavy “Long Time” deals with the longing stage of love that quickly borders on possessiveness. “I wish I had longer legs that I could fasten to your body so you could take me with you everywhere”, she sings with unyielding confidence.
Sleazy grooves made for close grinding paired with Middle Eastern influences dominate “Why Wait” – one of the best dance tracks of Shakira’s career. It simply cries out for a dance troop video to accompany this nasty groove.
Mixing folk influences with electronics “Good Stuff” offers a glimpse into her trust issues “The grass is much greener with us on it”, she finally decides, and moves to the good stuff.
Men In This Town
On “Men In This Town”, Shakira can’t find a guy (Matt Damon is apparently not meant for her). Sounding somewhat Ska, somewhat retro with a big throaty chorus this is Shakira on the verge of placing hands on hips and giving up – but not so fast.
“Gypsy” tones down the volume and veers off into the opposite direction -how she can’t be tied down. This is Shakira’s time to show strength.
Teaming up once again with Haiti ’s Wyclef Jean on “Spy”, Shakira diva’s it up with a funky New Orleans muted trumpet sound dominating the track, and one of the catchiest hooks on the record. One of the best songs on an already great album.
“Mon Amour” is the revenge song to end all, with bile-laden lyrics such as “Every night I pray that you don’t knock her up cause I still want to be the mother of your child” sung over a loose guitar and a hand clap groove. When her ex decides to take new gal pal to France Shakira wishes that “the French eat both of you alive, and your room smells and the toilet doesn’t flush and the locals treat you mean and the service takes too long”.
Vindictive, childish and petty, Shakira verbalizes the emotions we’ve all wished upon an ex at one point or another. For all the beauty of love, Shakira nails the post breakup heartache in this highly charged track.
In the end, after all the hurt, the bad dates and the rejection, love is probably the most vulnerable of emotions. Kudos to Shakira in all her honesty for allowing this glimpse into her ridiculous side. Proof once again that even sex kittens can go stark raving mad every once and a while.
Shakira – She Wolf is available now.
James W. Coates - A nomad at heart, James W. Coates has been combining his passion for music, writing and traveling ever since his father packed the family ...
