While Pharrell and Chad’s knob-twiddling skills have sprinkled gold dust onto the current crop of urban pop acts’ offerings, NERD’s latest release leaves a lot to be desired. Layers of trademark dirty tribal beats, punchy acoustic riffs and breathy vocals prevail, while the melodic hooks that set the likes of Justin and Kelis apart seem somewhat overlooked. Let’s hope that this is only a temporary dip in standards.