Originally released in the UK in 2008, Grace Jones’ Hurricane is finally released in the U.S. along with a dub version of the album. It is reminiscent of the 80’s era synth tones mixed with darker undercurrents that are apparent in the singer’s previous work. It’s also consistent in its repeated declaration of human rights. Hurricane may find a home in night clubs for its wicked sensuality, but it probably won’t be found in play lists of any one born after 1985.

“Corporate Cannibal” opens with Jones’ deep voice narrating. The style is iconically apparent in Michael Jackson’s Thriller, as well as the opening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Jones’ signature dedication to the power of women is also evident in this track.

The album shows its dub influence in “Well Well Well”, bringing in female back-up vocals along with a clichéd island beat. Here, the singer delivers lyrics about overcoming a fall off of a tightrope. The meaning of the tightrope is any one’s guess, maybe it signifies Jones’ effort to make something other than 80’s pop songs.

Title track “Hurricane” utilizes fade-ins and fade-outs of vocals accompanied by a pounding chorus of synth bass beats and sweeping higher tones meant to sound like the wind whipping in a hurricane. The same sweeping fade-in and fade-out also find a home in the next song “I Love You To Life”. The reggae inspired beats don’t redeem the androgynous vocals either, leaving it as another melody about female power.

For those Grace Jones fans who have loved her past work, Hurricane is more of the same. With only two out of nine songs under five minutes, the all too familiar synth lasts too long. The deep-toned, narrator-style chants are distinct in almost every track as well, leaving no catchy upbeat tunes for the radio. It is an album produced in 2008 that sounds like it was taken straight out of the 80’s.

Final Words: Find a hiding spot, a hurricane is coming.