On Katie Melua’s fourth release, The House, you are greeted with the words, “I’d love to kill you.” The track is a far cry from the bicycles she so sweetly sings about in her popular 2005 hit, “Nine Million Bicycles.” The Georgian-born darling of pop music is the last person you’d expect to rhapsodize about murder. This is not, however, the only expectation she defies. Produced by the thought-to-be-retired William Orbit (who previously worked with Madonna), her new album The House is edgier, venturing away from folk into power pop.

Perhaps the genre hopping can be attributed to Melua’s exploration of human emotions. She has already covered the generic topics of love and heartbreak with her previous works. Here, she tackles stronger sentiments, evident in “I’d Love To Kill You,” the album’s acoustic but powerful opener. The song is the epitome of obsession. It screams “stalker,” with lyrics such as “I’d like to tie you up in knots/Until your heart stops,” but Melua’s tender vocals keep it poetic, though the eerie vibe remains. She plays the victim as well, depicted in “A Moment of Madness,” a dangerous tale of domestic abuse that is carefully veiled by a playful, burlesque harmony.

Unfortunately, her lyric-penning talents falter in the second half of the album. “Plague Of Love” relies on easy rhymes and clichéd phrases. But at least it makes sense, which is more than I can say for the jumbled “God On Drums, Devil On The Bass.” The name alone should be a glaring warning. Both of these tracks, however, have rather catchy beats and are actually enjoyable listens if you simply tune out the lyrics.

Like Melua’s earlier works, The House has innovative hits that stand out from the first listen. Unfortunately, the rest of the album recycles her old material and is thus easily forgettable.