*1/2 Zap Mama

7

(Luaka Bop/Warner Bros)

Those who found these world-beat faves' first two releases vivacious and engaging may be disappointed this time around. Not only has leader Marie Daulne dismissed (or otherwise lost track of) the rest of the original a cappella vocal group (though Sabine Kabongo does sing in the background on most of the album, she will not be joining the current tour), she has also enlisted a full back-up band who play throughout the CD (apparently limited to bass and drums on tour).

The results are all too predictable. The back-up musicians are competent but uninspired, as are most of Daulne's lead vocals, which are relieved, from time to time, with guest stars U Roy and Spearhead's Michael Franti -- whose appearances with this most feminine of operations feel intrusive and clumsy. The writing tends to be more in grooves than in songs, and the grooves are never much more than adequate. The background vocals are still frequently inventive and affecting, but they're pushed further into the background than ever, and the overall feeling is more of bleakness than joy. Let's put it this way: the single is Phoebe Snow's "Poetry Man," replete with Franti's Barry White-like asides. You might feel jilted.

-- Peter Travis

(Zap Mama play the Berklee Performance Center this Friday, March 28. Call 876-4275.)