<span>Seven years after </span><span>Pharrell Williams project N*E*R*D released previous album </span><span><em>Nothing,</em></span><span> their patented mix of rap, funk and rock feel rather a distant, almost quaint memory. Since then, Pharrell has elevated his solo stock from merely "star" to "your-mum-will-recognise-him A-lister", primarily thanks to omnipresent hit </span><span><em>Happy</em></span><span>. Does he even need to revisit N*E*R*D? </span><span> </span> <span>Based on the promising guest list of </span><span>comeback </span><span><em>No_One Ever Really Dies</em></span><span>, you could be hopeful of an affirmative answer: rap and R'n'B royalty Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, OutKast's Andre 3000, MIA, Future, Gucci Mane and Wale all feature. Oh and – mild vomit – Ed Sheeran. The coalesced reality has</span><span> slightly more blurred lines.</span> <span>The early signs are certainly less encouraging. Rihanna-embellished opener </span><span><em>Lemon</em></span><span> sees the Bahamas-born bad girl attempting to go, err, full rap, but the whole thing trips over its own expensive trainer laces in attempts to chase the zeitgeist. </span><span> </span> <span>When the real rappers come to play, the results </span><span>often resemble a track by the guest artist as soundtracked by The Neptunes – </span><span><em>1000</em></span><span> (Future) and </span><span><em>Voila</em></span><span> (Gucci Mane and Wale) fail to fully connect. Lamar's breathless vocals are a reliable highlight, </span><span>albeit with the same aforementioned production caveat. </span><span><em>Don't Don't Do It! </em></span><span>could almost be a </span><span><em>To Pimp a Butterfly</em></span><span> off-cut.</span><span> </span> <span>The theory used to be that Pharrell plotted the pop present to afford room to work on his futuristic production. N*E*R*D continue their fight to combine both, yet you wonder if this is one of project best left in the past.</span> ______________ <strong>Read more:</strong> ______________