Lucy Pearl is a refugee all-star project, combining the forces of Tony! Toni! Toné!'s Raphael Saadiq, A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and En Vogue's Dawn Robinson -- now all ex-members of their respective groups. But it's the rare kind of such an undertaking: one that's greater than the sum of its parts.

The trio combines a minimalist arrangement sensibility with solid songcraft and, not surprisingly, a knack for taut, sinewy grooves -- established from the get-go with "Ask of You,'' on which a tense, stuttering rhythm slides under smooth harmonies and Saadiq's best bedroom come-ons. The first single, "Dance Tonight,'' offers a restrained but still uptempo glide that spans three decades' worth of R&B conventions, an approach that's echoed on "LaLa,'' a slippery, tongue-wagging duet between Saadiq and Robinson that hearkens back to the days of vintage Prince and Rick James. "Remember the Times'' has the organic, hollow quality of an Everlast track, while "Hollywood'' mines crunchy rock territory. Robinson gets room to stretch on the strong-woman declaration "Don't Mess With My Man,'' and Lucy Pearl's hip-hop aesthetic gets a workout on "Trippin' '' and "You" -- the latter featuring guest shots from Snoop Dog and Ali's Tribemate Q-Tip.

Lucy Pearl may not break a lot of new ground on its debut. It definitely does, however, live up to its members' credentials.