In many ways it's been the year of the truly funky diva. Macy Gray's 1999 carried over to this year. Then there came the assured debuts by Kelis, Angie Stone and Jill Scott, all better albums than the bigger-selling but uninspired stuff like Anastacia.
Now,after what might be bit of a worrying wait since her debut - she did a live album, then had a part in Cider House Rules - comes the return of Erykah Badu.
Her previous Baduizm helped to open some doors for many of the above, complete with a voice that fair revelled in its delicate Billie Holiday-like qualities, and a sound that sprinkled organic hip-hop upon vintage soul.
Mama's Gun rounds off that funky diva year nicely and consolidates on Badu's debut.
It comes with a bigger musical agenda than its predecessor - there's 70s psychedelic funk and late-night jazz-soul all simmering within.
Which can mean it's an album where the feels impress initially more than the songs.
But what fine feels they can be, whether it's the Sly and the Family Stone-styled opener Penitentiary Philosophy, the spiky funk of Kiss Me On My Neck, or the semi-acoustic reggae lope of In Love with You with Steven Marley performing the Stunt-Bob duet role.
Towards the end it gets especially delicate and languid, whether it's the Isaac Hayes-grooved Bag Lady, the Billie Holiday-echoing Orange Moon or Green Eyes, which drifts this sweetly to the end of its 14 tracks.
Sometimes you can't help but think she's keeping one eye on the bigger-attitude competition of Macy et al, especially on the feisty Susan (sampled lyric: "Your booty might be bigga but I still can pull your nigga"), and that the second half of this suffers a little sameness of song.
But Badu's nouveau soul is still a fine refresher course.
