Kelis hasn't done much of note since 2003's superb Tasty, which contained the memorable global hit 'Milkshake' and the similarly ace 'Trick Me'. The follow-up, 2006's Kelis Was Here, was the singer's first album not to feature production from long-term collaborators The Neptunes, and proved something of a disappointment.
It would be hard to overestimate the importance of The Neptunes link – Kelis worked with the duo in a period where they were in the process of reinventing pop music, thanks to a series of killer collaborations with artists such as Nelly, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Doog and Gwen Stefani. For Kelis, they not only produced 'Milkshake', but also her breakthrough hit 'Caught Out There', not to mention my own personal favourite, the sublime electro-funk workout 'Good Stuff'.
Chad and Pharrell are nowhere to be seen on Flesh Tone either, but given that their production work over the past few years has been largely forgettable, that might not be a deal-breaker. Unfortunately, the duo's various successors uniformly fail to take Kelis to the heights of yore.
The dominant sound on Flesh Tone is gaudy electro-pop of the sort that has made Lady GaGa a superstar. When it works, as on the Boys Noize-produced '4th of July (Fireworks)' and the first single 'Acapella', it's wonderful; when it fails, as it does on the banal 'Emancipate' (sample lyric: "Emancipate yourself!"), it's horrendous.
Fans of quality pop are probably best advised to dig out those copies of Kaleidoscope and Tasty.