In 2003, whispers of a follow-up Esthero album started to spread amongst her small but dedicated fanbase. Having stayed just off stage right with backup vocal credits for a number of high-profile artists, it was hard to tell if Esthero would ever have ambitions of penning and performing her own material again. OG Bitch, an EP that also served as an advance sample of a forthcoming record, came out in 2004; it’s been almost a year since then, and the associated album, Wikked Lil’ Grrrls, is only now breaking cover.

Since her 1998 album, Esthero’s picked up quite a few connections in the industry, meaning her new album is backed by a more formidable army of producers and collaborators this time around; I dare say it’s filled with as many “featuring” credits as any other hip hop or R&B album these days. Other things have changed too: she’s on Warner Brothers now, a nice promotion after her previous label, Work (a part of Sony), went under, and she’s got a cute little Parental Advisory icon on the front of the album. Oh, and the music.

I guess no one would mistake anything on Wikked Lil’ Grrrls for a 1998 retread; that much is evident. Considering the many twists and turns in her career, it would’ve been foolish to expect otherwise. But there are warning signs all over the place, from the many B-list contributors to the first track, “We R In Need Of A Musical ReVoLuTion.” Aside from the creative spelling and capitalization (apparently indicating a target audience of 14-year-old IM users), the song also features a rebellious Esthero railing against the likes of Ashanti and R. Kelly for not pushing the boundaries (or, in the case of R. Kelly, pushing the wrong ones). Which is great, but one wonders whether she’s framed the debate improperly; instead of thinking of “the shit on the radio” as something to be fought, how about treating it as something to ignore? “ReVoLuTion” seems strictly sixth-grade in more ways than one.

And yet there are still nagging little things that make it harder to write her off. Get past the subject matter and the title, and “Revolution” turns into a decent album opener. Other songs are similarly qualified successes; for example, there’s “Fastlane,” featuring honest-to-goodness Canadian talent like Jelleestone. And then there’s Esthero’s staunch claim that she still calls Queen Street home—possibly a plea for street cred. But there’s also the matter of the show she played last month with—wait for it—Ron Sexsmith, the Oscar Peterson Quartet and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A quirky bill for a woman we hope still has some quirks left in her.