On Liberation, Christina Aguilera is resilient

DEAR CHRISTINA, IT’S been some time, but I’m glad you’re back. You lost me a bit on 2012’s Lotus and threw me for a loop in 2010 with Bionic. Not sure if it is because you took six years in between your last album and your new album, or if you’re in a different place in your life, but there’s something very special about Liberation, easily one of the year’s best albums. The album is just as pleasant as your 1999 selftitled debut, as powerful and poignant as 2002’s Stripped, and as layered and soulful as 2006’s Back to Basics. Liberation has a wide range of styles and sounds, but it’s also masterfully cohesive.

Twice continues to show your voice in top form; Pipe is a sexy Quiet Storm anthem; and Unless It’s With You, which closes the album and feels like an instant classic, is beautiful, raw and honest.

And then there are the jams: Right Moves, featuring reggae artists Keida and Shenseea, is the perfect song to play before going out; rapper Gold Link, with lyrical references to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, shines just as bright as you do on Like I Do; and Accelerate is bouncy and fun (plus, pretty much anything costarring Ty Dolla $ign at the moment is fire.)

In some ways Liberation reminds me of Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi, her 2005 comeback album that reminded the world to never count out the diva. Freedom sounds good on you, too, Christina. Mesfin Fekadu,