"I'd like to be my own best friend/Turns out there's no reciprocal feelings," sings Tracy Bonham. A relatable sentiment, but there's no adolescent angst on her fourth disc, a gorgeous celebration of adult love. Manhatta has a pastoral, jazzy pulse and is full of crafty details ­ the "Superfly" bass line driving "Big Red Heart," or the way she sings, "You make my heart go/Like Gogol Bordello." Whether she's puzzling out marriage or making out in an AMC Hornet, Bonham has definitely hit her groove.

“Too Close”

Next was formed in Minneapolis when the uncle of Terry "T-Low" and Raphael "Tweety" Brown, who was a gospel choir director, introduced the brothers to Robert Lavelle "R.L." Huggar. Sounds of Blackness singer Ann Nesby groomed the R&B group before handing them over to Naughty by Nature's KayGee, who wrote and produced "Too Close." The idea for the song was sparked "from a conversation we had with several girls at a nightclub," explained T-Low. "It's talking about the club scene, with guys getting out of hand and the female telling him to back up, asking, 'What are you doing?'"