Insomniac (CD)

After four years without releasing an album, crooner Enrique Iglesias returns with an all-English recording that also includes Spanish language versions of three songs. Insomniac is vintage Iglesias in that it is a collection of sure radio hits (and the special Wal-Mart edition includes three exclusive videos from his Wal-Mart Soundcheck performance).

This is a singer/songwriter who has never had a spectacular voice; indeed, his vocals are thin and reedy. But that whispery seduction works in repertoire that is catchy and arranged with unerring contemporary flair. Iglesias has always had a knack for delivering hits, and here, he's paired up with top pop songwriters for a mix of ballads, dance tracks and even a touch of hip-hop (on "Push," featuring Lil' Wayne) and rock balladry ("Sweet Isabel"). Tracks like "Stay Here Tonight" and the first single, "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song),"are reminiscent of up-tempo hits like "Escape," and equally addictive.

On "Do You Know," where the uncertainty of love is likened sonically to a ping pong game (with the sound of a bouncing ball the constant), a layered chorus augmented with strings precedes earnest refrains lamenting a love gone wrong. More intriguing is "Ring My Bells," which kicks off this album with a haunting piano solo blending into a minimalist chorus that grows with the track, increasingly augmented by synthesizers, strings and almost trance-like percussion.

Despite its mid-tempo beat, "Ring My Bells" ends up being a dance club track by virtue of its arrangement, and this is part of what makes Iglesias so much fun. But of course, this is an artist who is also capable of unadulterated romance. In that vein, our favorite track here is "Somebody's Me," about a man still dreaming of a former lover, who doesn't know he still cares. Acoustic guitars and evocative, melancholy lyrics ("Somebody needs you, somebody dreams about you every night/ Somebody hopes that one day you will see, that somebody's me") will surely make this one of the big radio singles in this album.

For a totally different side to Iglesias, turn to "Don't You Forget About Me," where he sings accompanied by acoustic guitar and faint strings for an almost folksy sound. Fans of Iglesias in Spanish can hear versions of "Somebody's Me," "Do You Know" and "Tired Of Being Sorry," which actually sounds much better in its Spanish version, "Amigo Vulnerable." It is distinctly European in its mix of acoustic and electronica, dance and balladry; it is also distinctly Iglesias in its blend of nostalgia with up-tempo beats. This is an artist of many faces who nevertheless has a very distinct musical imprint.