Entertainment

Ashlee Simpson

B Bittersweet World

(Geffen)

NO NATURAL FLAVORS: Elvis Costello has argued that there is no such thing as pop-music authenticity, and if he needs a 21st-century Exhibit A, he should cite Ashlee Simpson. Ms. Simpson – kid sister to Jessica, another gleaming exhibit – has glommed onto every pop trend and tried on every pop fashion. For her third album, Bittersweet World, she's as ersatz as she's always been. She's also more listenable than ever.

TOTALLY PLASTIC, FAIRLY FANTASTIC: Some credit must go to producers such as Timbaland and the Neptunes' Chad Hugo, who could probably throw a recitation of the alphabet into the Top Ten, yet Ms. Simpson does her part by turning her thinness of voice and shallowness of thought (she's a songwriter, really!) into positive boons. The Avril Lavigne-like pop-punk of "Rule Breaker," the thick, glossy heartbreak of "Little Miss Obsessive" and the catty faux-electro of "Hot Stuff" might be empty pleasures, but they're pleasures nevertheless.

BOTTOM LINE: Seductively inauthentic.

Jon M. Gilbertson

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