The coming-of-age-young-urban-starlet is a wondrous thing to behold, isn’t it? Well, no, not usually — since in this day and age, we associate her with multiple piercings of the nether regions, embarrassingly out-of-it public appearances, and the urge to dry-hump everything in sight. Given all that, the coming-out party for 19-year-old British vocalist Joss Stone, featuring album number three, is relatively sedate — but only intermittently more satisfying.

When she and producer Raphael Saadiq hit, they hit big, pushing tempos beyond hip-hop’s usual BPM. Songs like “Put Your Hands on Me” and “Girl They Won’t Believe It” draw direct links to Motown, even as they maintain a contemporary sheen. At those moments, Introducing sounds like it’s the bridge between neo-soul and modern R&B. But over the course of these 14 tracks, the sex eventually outlasts the melodies, leaving Stone’s big, boisterous voice to broadcast her new self too much and too often.

This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2007.