They are two of America's hottest names in music and continually singing on other people's tracks, so it makes perfect sense for Pharrell Williams to team up with Gwen Stefani on his first solo outing Can I Have It Like That.

Not that Stefani's contribution really adds much to the record. Her anodyne vocal is purely cosmetic and clearly a transparent means of getting her name on the single to not only boost her own credentials but to help draw Pharrell to the attention of her increasingly mainstream following. And if anyone deserves a larger audience it's Pharrell Williams, who has already confirmed his talents as one half of the production team, the Neptunes, and as a performer and songwriter in his own right with N*E*R*D.

Can I Have It Like That is a slow burner. It doesn't have the immediate impact of N*E*R*D's debut Lapdance, but is an atmospheric, gritty hip-hop track, similar in style and rhythm to Drop It Like It's Hot, the tune Pharrell dueted with Snoop Dogg on. It is darker and edgier than that track, complete with the trademark sound of the Neptunes production. Williams vocal sounds as pleasant as ever - he offers a honey-coated version of the rapping styles of his peers such as Snoop and Dre. It is a promising hint at what else is to come from Pharrell's debut album In My Mind and further affirmation that the Neptunes and their offspring projects can still make the most interesting hip hop around.