**1/2 Khaled

SAHRA

(Island)

Sahra is Khaled's third CD since he left Algeria for the safety of France. There, he's become quite the pop star, singing husky love songs in French, gliding, in Arabic, atop tribal and worldbeat rhythms, and attracting both Maghrebian emigrants and dance-music club kids to his Mediterranean music.

This CD follows that strategy in several modes, which he makes his own without compromising the sexiness his deep baritone effortlessly exudes. He pleads, in tearful French, to his girlfriend "Aïcha" (the CD's radio hit), makes ticklish in Arabic on "Ki Kounti," links arms in solidarity with the Marseilles rap group IAM in "Oran Marseille," sings strong like a Gypsy rhumba tenor in "Wahrane Wahrane," and traipses lightly on the delicate Neapolitan beat of "Lillah." He even puts on a pair of reggae shoes for "Ouelli El Darek," singing in Arabic, which in his guttural manly voice becomes almost a Latin lover's language.

-- Michael Freedberg