Clearly, 1960s-style production is in these days. With Amy Winehouse, Duffy, and Gnarls Barkley all making use of the kind of sound that rushes right up to the speakers and grabs you by the shoulders, Solange Knowles could get lost in the mix, in much the same way she's suffered from being "Beyonce's Little Sister." Luckily, her second album, Sol-AngeL and the Hadley St. Dreams, is strong enough to push its head up above the crowd and open up like an exotic flower.

Solange recruited a crowd of interesting producers, including the Neptunes, Mark Ronson, and Freemasons, to create a sound that's one-half Ronettes and one-half Donna Summer. It positively bubbles over with handclaps, tambourine, and Knowles's tough, direct, slightly scratchy voice. The first single, “I Decided, Pt. 1,” grabs the handclaps from The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go," but pairs them with a funkily squeezed keyboard line, and its remix, "I Decided, Pt. 2" is janglier but equally fun. Both exemplify the old-made-new aesthetic that the younger Knowles does so beautifully.

She gets a little too spacey on the two six-minute-plus tracks, "Cosmic Journey" and "This Bird," but can you really complain about a pop starlet with a taste for the experimental? You can't, especially when she serves up delights like "Sandcastle Disco," a tightly percussive tune that increasingly expands into a lovely confession of vulnerability while not abandoning its hip-shaking beat. If you're looking for this year's "Crazy," you may find it here.

—Hillary Brown
08.29.08