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Hear Me Out: Toni Braxton

By Chris Azzopardi

Toni Braxton, Pulse
What a bitch it's been for past-their-prime pop divas like Mariah, Whitney and Toni Braxton. To stay cool, they've had to take cues from the "kids," indulge in Auto-Tune and hang with rappers. But if Whitney can take a crack at it (excuse the pun) and muster something that's decent enough to endure, Braxton can pull it off with flying rainbow colors even if she's swinging outside her R&B roots. She can still sing, for one - though almost everything she's released in the last decade has been meager compared to her '90s output. So what's a diva to do? Go gayer. "Make My Heart," the second single, is a supersonic disco-dance song with the clubs in mind. It's not bad, but it isn't a showpiece for her voice's multi-toned dexterity. For that, the album is brimming with ballads, and though there's nothing as epic as the career-catapulting "Un-Break My Heart," that doesn't mean she can't cut a solid slowie nearly 15 years later. "Yesterday" meddles in the omnipresent modern-day mold. If not remarkably original, it's still a damn good diva moment. Better are the goosebumps-giving vocals on "Woman" (dramatic pause included!) and "If I Have to Wait," making it clear that Braxton's still best when she's breaking hearts.

Grade: B

Also Out

Kaki King, Junior
Even with more singing, the masterful guitarist's wistful fifth album is an inescapable Bermuda Triangle of dreamy and hypnotic sounds. King's a better guitar player than vocalist, as she's proved with early instrumental-only projects, but still a genius capable of creating crescendos that suck you deep into their epicenter. No surprise, then, that the best cut on the album is one of the few that are vocal-less: "My Nerves that Committed Suicide." So moving that it speaks to you even without a voice.

Kate Nash, My Best Friend is You
As "I've Got a Secret" fizzes out and this British alt-rocker intones "homophobic pricks" in this coming-out cut, how can you not like her? The sophomore CD from the MySpace-launched wonder is almost as likable, exploring relationship facets with a hard-edged bite and lots of bad language. Sometimes going R-rated over radio-friendly works, like on retro-ed "Do-Wah-Doo," but when she pushes too hard with the sexual spoken-word riff "Mansion Song" she risks alienation with indignation.

Natalie Merchant, Leave Your Sleep
This isn't how Natalie Merchant left us before going on a seven-year hiatus. Whereas 2003 found the former 10,000 Maniacs front-woman doing straight-up folk, this sprawling literary double-disc undertaking shifts into fairytale whimsy and Celtic-sounding songs - all complimented with an elaborate storybook that's definitely something to marvel over. As for the 26 songs, they're all non-mainstream, ambitious and off in their own world. One that brings sleep more than leaves it.

Reach Chris Azzopardi at chris@pridesource.com. His column runs biweekly in OFC Extra!