Thanks to the ubiquitous Dilemma, a song that practically peeled off its clothes on the spot, Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland is no longer a mere backing vocalist for Beyoncé Knowles.
But while she undoubtedly has talent to burn, her first solo album is a mildly disappointing setting for it. A top-flight example of the American inclination toward lush but lightweight soul, it makes all the right R&B noises without engaging the emotions.
Rowland comes tantalisingly close to coolness, deploying a voice that skims over melodies as lightly as a breeze, but never quite makes the leap to true passion. Her speciality is the slightly funky party number with a moralising overtone: the silky Stole tells the tale of the outcast who shoots up a classroom, Strange Places warns girls not to judge a "thug" by his Prada shoes. All of which is fine, but she can do better.
