A few days ago, I encouraged all of you to buy India Arie’s latest LP, Testimony: vol. 1, Life & Relationship. As I made clear at the time, my recommendation was based on the two or three songs that I heard through her MySpace page and the VH1 Soul specials that ran ad nauseum throughout the week. Later that day, I began to worry “What if the album stinks except for the few songs she released early?”

That night, I bought the CD and gave it a thorough listening, hoping that India didn’t pull an LL Cool J on me. Fortunately, the album was filled with satisfying, if occasionally overbearing, testimonies of lost love and renewed possibility.

Like her previous album, Arie shows her growing comfort in her own skin with self-affirming tracks like “Private Party” and the hit single “I Am Not My Hair” featuring Akon. Expect the latter, which was curiously put on the album instead of the original, to become the summer anthem for recovering bohos.

The best part of Testimony is its unflinching honesty. Unlike many contemporary pre-packaged R&B albums, these words come straight from India’s recently broken heart. On songs like “The Heart of the Matter,” “This Too Shall Pass” and “Wings of Forgiveness” (my favorite), Arie works through her pain in full public view. The results are marvelous, as she sonically embodies Henry Nouwen’s notion of the “Wounded Healer.”

Unfortunately, her musings often slip from the sincere to the didactic. Songs like “Better People” and “There’s Hope,” make Arie seem more naïve than hopeful in her attempts at healing the world. Still, the interesting musical arrangements and upbeat vocals keep the tracks interesting in spite of their hokieness.

Overall, Testimony is an interesting and fun, though occasionally saccharine, album. Like the other two projects, Arie’s latest will satisfy the Iyanla Vanzant reading, granola crunching, “spiritual but not religious” crowd that comprises her primary fan base. Also, her willingness to expose her pain in full public view will win her a well-deserved new crowd of people looking to heal their wounded hearts.

BARBERSHOP RATING: 3.5 out of 5 clippers