In Brief

* * 1/2 Nonchalant, “Until the Day,” MCA. The compelling political tone of “5 O’Clock” and “Lights N Sirens” demonstrates that Washington, D.C.’s Nonchalant is anything but. She’s clearly influenced by Queen Latifah, but dulls the edge of this debut with pedestrian “Shoop”-like R&B; fare. Only the title track, with its mixture of playfully agile verbalistics and smooth crooning, effectively bridges the two genres.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).