Born in New York, raised in Chicago and caught in something of a musical time warp, Anastacia Newkirk is a soul singer with an incredible voice and a debut album that would be as happy in the mid-1980s as it is at the turn of the century. Working with producers whose credits include CeCe Penniston, Mariah Carey, Montell Jordan, Taylor Dane and Color Me Bad, Not That Kind is a collection of songs that relies on tried and tested pop tactics: big choruses, anthemic tunes and swaying ballads, rather than fashion conscious production tricks. Luckily, she's so stirring--especially with her Chaka Khan-esque vocals on the soul/funk title track, "I'm Outta Love", and on the Tina Turner-ish blues & soul stomper "I Was Made For Loving You"--that the shiny guitars, synth-basslines and pre-reinvention Whitney Houston overtones of power ballad "I Ask Of You" (which could have come straight off The Bodyguard soundtrack) pale into insignificance. Times have moved on and R&B has become more sophisticated, but infectious tunes are still any album¹s essential ingredient--and Not That Kind has plenty of them. --Dan Gennoe

1 - Not That Kind
2 - I'm Outta Love
3 - Cowboys & Kisses
4 - Who's Gonna Stop The Rain
5 - Love Is Alive
6 - I Ask Of You
7 - Wishing Well
8 - Made for Lovin' You
9 - Black Roses
10 - Yo Trippin'
11 - One More chance
12 - Same Old Story