N.E.R.D. - Seeing Sounds

“Listen to the words on the third album by the Neptunes’ side-project rock band and you’ll wonder if Pharrell Williams does anything but doubt the motives of the various women crowding the margins of his adventures in clubland. For a less depressing experience, ignore the lyrics and direct your full attention to N*E*R*D’s full-color beats, which after a dip in quality on 2004’s “Fly or Die” repay close examination here. Dig the way “Yeah You” layers a pop-soul saxophone lick over a funky jazz-rap bassline or how “Spaz” answers the long-burning question of what Stereolab would sound like if it were a nü-metal group. Thematically starved, “Seeing Sounds” is nonetheless a sonic feast.—Mikael Wood”