Mya, Moodring (A&M /Interscope): When an album's hit single is titled "My Love Is Like . . . Wo," you know that you're not ranging into ambitious lyrical territory.
Mya's third album, Mood- ring (in stores Tuesday), is laden with the recycled relationship cliches that form the backbone of contemporary R&B. Mya is in love, out of love, seeking respect and asserting herself in all sorts of generic scenarios.
"Like air and water, boy, I need thee, and when I'm in your arms I feel free," Mya sings in "Fallen," administering breathy vocals above a smooth rhythm track sweetened by strings.
She's gets crazy in love (oops, sorry, Beyoncé!) in "Why You Gotta Look So Good?" -- uttering admonitions against a bad-news lover she can't bear to leave: "Don't want nobody else to have you"; "I know you ain't never gonna treat me right"; "I can't get no sleep at night." You get the idea.
The redeeming quality of Moodring is that the words are generally wrapped in stylish arrangements such as the Missy Elliott-produced "My Love Is Like . . . Wo."
With its funky descending bass line and hooky chorus, that song is the best example of Mya's marriage of dance-friendly pop and R&B. Elliott also had a hand in producing "Step," the singer's beat-driven warning against other women messing with her man.
In addition to Elliott, Mood- ring also boasts the presence of A-list producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis ("Anatomy 1on1"), Trickey Stewart ("No Sleep Tonight") and Rockwilder ("Why You Gotta Look So Good?"), but the shades don't reflect diverse influences.
A duet on "Things Come and Go" with reggae star Sean Paul, who stays busy making cameos on other people's albums, suggests a potential stylistic leap. The rasta-flavored introduction is promptly absorbed into a silky groove that softens the beat into something bland.
Though technically proficient, Mya's voice asserts itself with a presence that's not even as distinctive as Christina Aguilera's overwrought approach. Still, she adequately mines the limited potential of melodic ballads such as "You," without the histrionics so rampant among other diva-wannabes.
Moodring is capable enough to keep Mya in that crowd, but not compelling enough to lift her above it.