POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE - NATASHA BEDINGFIELD
Yes, some of Natasha Bedingfield’s oft-delayed sophomore effort sounds like more fresh-feeling pitch music for women’s hygiene products (”A face without freckles/Is like a sky without the stars”). But all the tinkering — the album shares a mere five songs with the U.K. version released in April 2007 — gave “Sunshine” what her 2005 debut, “Unwritten,” lacked: individuality, albeit of the programmed kind. The album has an undeniable flip-flop feel throughout. It helps that Bedingfield has one of those point-and-shoot pop voices that can do anything a producer might ask of it, from Aaliyah staccatos to Kelly Clarkson power belting to quirky Lily Allen speak-singing. But the standout here is “Piece of Your Heart,” some stop-start funk that almost makes Bedingfield sound like Chaka Khan. Seriously.
