Like Killer Love before it, Big Fat Lie only appeared in territories outside of the United States, a good indication that Nicole Scherzinger is an international superstar with no foundation in her native country. Given this lack of homegrown support, it would've made sense if this sophomore solo set -- her first for RCA -- skewed slightly toward Euro-pop, but this record instead recycles various pop and dance tropes familiar from the past decade or so of American pop. Tricky Stewart and the-Dream take production credits throughout but their work isn't particularly distinctive, which may be appropriate for Scherzinger, the least distinctive diva of the new millennium. She's always game to do anything -- big ballads, sheets of synths, a bit of trashy vamping -- but she never sounds game; she's always this side of listless, as if it took every last ounce of energy to whisper in front of a microphone. Scherzinger merely does an excellent job of showing up and this perfunctory pop finds a perfect marriage with Stewart and the-Dream, who clearly don't bring their A game to Big Fat Lie. They haul out some of their old tricks, half-heartedly try on some of last year's fashions, and generally decide to get out of the studio as quickly as they can. There's nothing embarrassing about their work here but there's nothing memorable, and that suits a singer who has yet to strike a memorable pose in a decade of trying.