Lady Saw

Seated in red suit and executive chair on the cover, the buxom Jamaican blond sprawls on a striped couch in halter and who-knows-what? inside--who knows because her hands cover her split beaver and the CD hole covers her hands. It's the new slackness, confidently and voraciously refusing to become the last big thing. Cribbing "That's Amore" and a generic country tune and a properly credited "Love Is Strange," ranging riddimically from something we call oompah to something she calls joy ride, she sings about sex while never confusing power and pleasure or sounding beholden to anyone but herself. Do I like it raw? Well, since you were nice enough to ask . . . (Grade: B+)