Yes, some of Natasha Bedingfield's oft-delayed sophomore effort sounds like more fresh-feeling pitch music for women's hygiene products ("A face without freckles/Is like a sky without the stars"). But all the tinkering—the album shares a mere five songs with the U.K. version released last April—gave "Sunshine" what her 2005 debut "Unwritten" lacked: individuality, albeit of the programmed kind. The album has an undeniable flip-flop feel throughout; like the unplugged soul-chick hoedown Beyoncé tried to conjure at the end of the "Irreplaceable" video. It helps that Bedingfield has one of those point-and-shoot pop voices that can do anything a producer might ask of it, from Aaliyah staccatos ("Angel") to Kelly Clarkson power belting ("Soulmate") to quirky Lily Allen speak-singing ("Who Knows"). But the standout here is "Piece of Your Heart," some stop-start funk that almost makes Bedingfield sound like Chaka Khan. Seriously. —Kerri Mason