Shakira

Being fluent in both English and Spanish, Shikira has released this as a two part album. Fijación Oral is her first Spanish-language album since 1998, and Oral Fixation Vol.2 is her first ever pure-English album.

Shakira has a great advantage as a result of this, making her album accessible to a much wider audience in many more countries.

Oral Fixation is not what you might have expected. If you were anticipating a follow-on to Laundry Service – a collection of Latino-fuelled sexy dance songs -- you might be a little surprised. This album has a rather more serious feel to it, and sways closer to pop-rock as opposed to dance. Shakira's sound is so distinctive that it couldn't possibly be anyone else – although it is tempting to compare her to Alanis Morisette in the way that she uses her voice.

Serious as it is, with lines like “For you, I'd give up all I own and move to a
Communist country” and “I'd file my nails so they don't hurt you and lose those pounds, and learn about football”, I'm left wondering how serious she actually is.

The album artwork is perhaps more predictable than the content – with an almost-naked Shakira posing as a possible Eve on the cover. The style is reminiscent of the artwork on Desperate Housewives, using the theme of paradise.

It has an impressive range of styles spanned over the eleven tracks. From the gospel choir singing a ‘stylized Lords Prayer' on “How Do You Do”, to the more up-beat sounds of “Timor”, which you might expect to run into at a cheesy ski-resort discoteque in France.