Dignity

This is the deluxe CD/DVD (PAL/Region 0) version which includes 9 music videos. EMI.

In the most dignified way possible, "Dignity"--the title track to this fizz-bomb of a dance-pop disc--sends a disgusted eye-roll and a flagrant puh-lease to underwear-eschewing celebutantes everywhere: "You'd show up to the opening of an envelope," sings Duff, who hangs onto her signature sweetness despite having entered full-on diss mode. "It's not news when you've got a new bag/It's not news when you're looking your best/Come on, give it a rest." Well said. And sung. Not that calling out the phony and the full of it is what Duff, or Dignity, is all about. Mostly, the disc is a beat-studded chronicling of an incredibly healthy 19-year-old psyche: On "Happy," she's happy despite an ex's attempts to make her miserable; on "With Love"--maybe her catchiest, most grown-up song to date--she's willing to accept rejection as long as kindness plays a role in its delivery. Musically, with the help of groove-conscious producers like Tim & Bob and Will.i.am, Duff edges ever closer to adult sensibilities; her goofball Lizzie McGuire days seem far behind. It's an evolution anybody could have seen coming, actually. Has there ever been a starlet with her head on straighter? --Tammy La Gorce