Kristine W

August 1 - 8, 1 9 9 6 [Off the Record]

***1/2 Kristine W

LAND OF THE LIVING

(RCA)
Kristine W, with masterful production help by Britain's Rob D and Rollo, has made a diva-style debut CD that demands to be taken seriously rather than as camp. It's a purification of form in line with the return-to-basics move now taking place in club music (other examples: Robert Miles's Children, La Bouche's Sweet Dreams, and Everything But the Girl's Walking Wounded).
Land of the Living goes back to classic soul singing and themes grander than the mirror worship so many mere club divas settle into. Forceful and lush, but never overripe, Miss W's big-hearted alto finds the proper note of generosity, the necessary accent of triumph, to make a declamatory song something more than a muscle flex. She soars smoothly in "Feel What You Want," "Let Me In," and the title song; she glides at ease through "Sweet Mercy Me." Her resurgent riffing in "One More Try" renders the song's story of romantic desperation convincingly confident. And in "Breathe" and "Jazzin'," she proves herself at home in both the quietly ecstatic world of Toni Braxton and Dee Dee Bridgewater's toe-tapping happy rush. Land of the Living is the work of a honest singer.
-- Michael Freedberg