focus, making more of an impact, though it still doesn't impart a stamp of identity on Wheeler's free-ranging vocal attack. She cruises from mode to mode, leaps from producer to producer: cool, consistent and perhaps a bit too comfortable.

Fluidity is the key to Wheeler's confidence. She doesn't wow with virtuoso tempo changes; she glides where others grandstand. In fact, her subtly deployed skills – rapid phrasing and a graceful sense of rhythm – pull her through some wild territory. The cosmically inclined title track contains a verbal barrage that would sink most singers; Wheeler wraps a cunning stream of la-la-la's around her hip-hop sci-fi daydream and gets it over. Reggae-funk moves ("Gotta Give It Up") and Afro-pop chant choruses ("Land of Life") come as easily to her as could-be-sampled Chaka Khan imitations ("Need a Man") and squishysweet Minnie Ripperton turns ("Do You Care"). She high-steps through a kicking cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Wind Cries Mary" (with Will Calhoun of Living Colour drumming) and strolls down "Soul Street."

One surprising thing is revealed on War Goddess: Wheeler is at her best on the album's most conventional tracks. She soars on three quietly throbbing examples of modern R&B, singing rings around herself via expert mixes. Producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis stretch Wheeler's multitracked voice into haunting minor-chord melodies on "In Our Love" and "I Adore You," on which her rising sighs and wordless incantations tap deep into the sources of romantic obsession. Soul II Soul leader Jazzie B reappears on "Wonder," and while he lays down his most memorable bass-heavy break in years, Wheeler carries the day with her worrying take on the lyric's pining-for-you conceit. Plugged into a mainstream current, Wheeler's marvelous voice finally makes a distinct impression. (RS 655)

MARK COLEMAN