Shakira’s next, and most recent, album was 2009’s English-language She Wolf. She threw her international listeners a bone by putting out a Spanish version of the lead single (titled ‘Loba’) a month before the album’s release.

She Wolf was a departure for Shakira in that it was more tightly focused than anything she’d released before. In part that’s because the album clocks in at around 30 minutes (not counting some bonus live tracks and alternate versions) and therefore doesn’t leave much room for rampant experimentation.

But mostly Shakira was going for a dance club vibe on these tracks, utilizing every studio trick at her disposal to deliver a slick modern sound heavy on beats and bass.

While the album prompted some accusations of selling out, I believe she succeeded spectacularly. She Wolf is her best sounding album and features some of her best-crafted songs to date. This is the first English-language album she’s released that I would stack alongside her Spanish-language records.

‘Men In This Town,’ with its insanely catchy chorus and staccato freak-out bridge, is one of the more oddly brilliant tracks on the CD. I love how she laments the unavailability of Matt Damon (a friend of hers, apparently) in decrying the scarcity of good men. The song is not autobiographical, as Shakira has been with Antonio de la Rúa (the son of a former Argentine president) for 10 years.

This month will see the release of Sale El Sol, Shakira’s seventh album. It’s a Spanish-language record that reportedly returns to the Latin and rock roots of her earlier career. I, for one, can’t wait. At 33, with six albums and 50 million record sales under her belt, Shakira seems to be just getting started.