ALBUMS REVIEWS / POP

** 1/2 Luscious Jackson, “Fever In Fever Out,” Grand Royal/Capitol. These four women won many hearts with their 1994 debut, “Natural Ingredients,” a mix of cool-headed raps and danceteria funk. It was an irrepressible hip-hop fusion with attitude to spare.

Sadly, in the effort to synthesize their spirit into something more subtle, Luscious Jackson lost the scampish, urbane bustle that made “Natural Ingredients” great. Daniel Lanois, who co-produced this follow-up, can either massage wonders out of his artists (including Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris and U2) or he can smother them. Luscious Jackson doesn’t benefit from his treatment. He encouraged them to free-associate lyrically and they came up with watered-down moments. He layers and layers their sounds until each beat, every loop, feels muffled and twice removed.

It’s palatable enough. “Mood Swing” is a xylophone-spined groove with samples as cushy as a down blanket; “Take a Ride” showcases keyboardist Vivian Trimble’s ability to squeeze out uncommon sounds and drummer Kate Schellenbach’s light, jazzy touch. But “Why Do I Lie?”--with backing vocals by Harris and the Brand New Heavies’ N’Dea Davenport--stumbles under the weight of too many voices and too much production.

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