Though they've got some of the most mellifluous voices in the biz, SWV almost wind up as backup singers on their new Release Some Tension. Wedding themselves to the new hit juggernaut – hip-hop mixed with R&B – the New Yorkers in three Sisters With Voices carry water for rappers-of-the-moment Puff Daddy, Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown, as well as for such veterans as Redman and Snoop Doggy Dogg.

Not that it isn't a funky good time. Even in the background, SWV's diva croons and tight, soul-heavy harmonies cut a killer track. "Can We" – already a hit off the Booty Call soundtrack – is a gem that features Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's spacey, staccato sex promises and SWV's smooth seduction pouring over an obese bass and an irresistible drumbeat.

Even with their ultraproduced hip-hop jams, SWV are true to their R&B roots, i.e., they're obsessed with romance and – since it's not the '50s anymore – sex. Release Some Tension alternates between sweet yearning (on SWV-only tracks like the wistful "Rain" and the self-explanatory "Here for You") and hot-and-heavy panting ("Come and Get Some," with E-40, and "Give It Up," guest-starring Lil' Kim). The rise of the sexually liberated woman rapper mixes up the rapper-singer dynamic a bit, giving SWV a chance to collaborate with women who are upfront about their desires. Kim, Brown and Elliott detail the erotic fantasies that SWV, in their restrained sensuality, only hint at. Maybe next time the Sisters will take center stage and tell the whole story themselves. (RS 771)

NATASHA STOVALL