Ne-Yo: Libra Scale

If you didn't know this was a concept album involving a trio of superhero dustmen and a femme fatale called Pretti Sinclair – you really couldn't make it up – you might well think it was just another collection of smooth R&B from this agreeable singer. Despite Ne-Yo being absolutely serious about this – apparently, he spent three months alone developing the backstory – it doesn't feel markedly different from his first three albums. His strength remains his fluid melody-writing, which saves many an otherwise mundane track here: Makin' a Movie, for example, may be overproduced, but its flow is hugely catchy; Champagne Life (in which the dustmen receive their super-powers, though lines like "Welcome to the champagne life, where trouble is a bubble in the champagne glass" give the impression of a plain old escapist party tune) is a sleek ride across a lush landscape of strings and a backing choir. Ne-Yo's Michael Jacksonish inflections are enjoyable as ever, too.