New Albums: Pet Shop Boys, Musiq Soulchild, K. Michelle; Ratings: Excellent , Good , Fair , Poor

Super

(Kobalt ***)

nolead ends Super is the second of a planned three albums pairing eudite 1980s British dance-pop duo Pet Shop Boys with (former Madonna) electronic producer Stuart Price. Like 2013's Electric, Super keeps its foot to the floor, upping the beats per minute and avoiding the orchestrated ennui that dragged down 2012's Elysium. And though Super isn't quite as super, songwise, as Electric, it's still effective at combining dance-floor momentum with the droll and sometimes disquieting lyrical perspective of talk-singer Neil Tennant. He's still expert at overlaying unabashedly synthy musical textures with actual human emotion.

On Super, written in London and Berlin and recorded in Los Angeles, Tennant and silent partner Chris Lowe display empathy with the growing pains of millennials.

The EDM pioneers allow themselves to grow nostalgic for the early '90s on "The Pop Kids," which celebrates poptimistic club culture with Tennantian understatement: "We were young but imagined ourselves so sophisticated / Telling everyone we knew that rock was overrated." Elsewhere, Tennant imagines himself a bored totalitarian ruler, longing to be toppled ("It would be such a relief not to give another speech") in "The Dictator Decides," another early highlight on an album that loses some steam down the home stretch.

- Dan DeLuca

nolead begins Musiq Soulchild
nolead ends nolead begins Life on Earth
nolead ends nolead begins (eOne / My Block ***)

nolead ends Toward the end of Philly's neo-soul sweep in the 1990s, creamy singer/spacey producer Musiq Soulchild (Philly-born Taalib Johnson) came, saw, and conquered - then kept moving forward with his smoothly melodic, rhythmically punchy, and occasionally experimental brand of galactic, romantic R&B.

Maybe there weren't jagged edges or bluesy avant-garde twists (e.g., fellow Philly singer Bilal) in his sobriety, but Musiq was solid. Even after his major-label run ended in 2011, Soulchild played it cool by toying with indie-recorded reggae tracks and, now, by rejiggering his original recipe to add a bit of swagger.

Take "I Do," a jazzy, Dexter Wanselish track. Soulchild may sound chill and loving at first, but dig deeper and you find the crooner-composer is willing to admit he doesn't like his intended all that much.

That soulful, Drambuie-drenched duality, electric-piano swirl, and subtle hip-hop rhythm also float behind the singer on the chuffed "Changed My Mind" and the sultry-but-stammering "Wait a Minute." Find the deluxe version of Life on Earth and dig the interstellar atmospheres and caramel-coated beats of "Outer Space." Add it all up and you'll find Soulchild is the same as he ever was, only more so.

- A.D. Amorosi

nolead begins K. Michelle
nolead ends nolead begins More Issues Than Vogue
nolead ends nolead begins (Atlantic Records **)

nolead ends K. Michelle's whole life is a performance. The R. Kelly mentee's been a regular cast member on Love & Hip Hop, both the New York and Atlanta iterations. On her third LP, Kimberly Michelle Pate can't hide behind reality TV - and the result is impressive. Down to the cover art, of a seemingly tiresome male trapped in her bugglegum sphere and words like THOT, bipolar, and fake booty plastered in the background, this record is tongue-in-cheek fun. The Tennessee girl has professed a love of country, and her trailer-park-theme video for the outstanding lead track, "Mindful" (produced by T-Pain), is a blast. Still, there's no detectable country in these 12 tracks, only full-on urban R&B and hip-hop. Maybe a country record's in the cards someday.

"Got Em Like" features production from Andre 3000 and Big Boi. My favorite, "Rich," features Yo Gotti and Trina and slays with lines like "I got rich-people problems." Jason Derulo's here, too, duetting with Michelle on the flirty "Make the Bed." Is this an overt grab at FM notoriety? Perhaps, but it probably won't work. The singles "Not a Little Bit" and "Ain't You" are slow, delicate numbers that shine a light on her qualified pipes (her vocal coach also trained Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears) but don't capture the irreverence laced throughout this record.

- Bill Chenevert