leak of the week

Leaked: New N.E.R.D. Album Not Nearly As Annoying As First Single Might Suggest

Courtesy of Interscope

N.E.R.D., Seeing Sounds

Official Release Date: June 10

The Verdict: Apart from the fingernails-down-a-chalkboard lead single, “Everybody Nose,†it’s actually pretty great. As one might expect from the Neptunes’ side project, the beats are uniformly berserk in a way that might make these songs unlistenably annoying if they weren’t anchored by decent hooks. Luckily, here, like on 2004’s underrated Fly or Die, N.E.R.D.’s near-competent songwriting saves the day with “Love Bomb,†“Sooner or Later,†“Windows,†“Yeah You,†and “Laugh About It†all managing to hide memorable choruses underneath kitchen-sink production. Even so, this is probably terrible hangover music.