Donna Lewis - Blue Planet (1998)

Donna Lewis' breathy, little-girl coo has always worked both for and against her. It lends itself well to warm ballads, where it can wrap itself sensually around a melody; but Lewis is a club artist, where BPMs are more crucial than vocal delivery (and, frankly, her wispy hush barely registers when the beats are furiously pounding out around her). She realizes this, however, and balances her songs with dashes of both (her 1996 hit, "I Love You Always Forever," made its impact by switching rhythmic gears so frequently it was hard to tell just where the song started and stopped). When Blue Planet sticks close to the formula (like on the lush and dreamy "Love Him"), it overcomes the slightly cold vibe that Lewis occasionally emits. And the cozily sexy "I Could Be the One" and the almost-spare "Falling" find her, for once, in control of the dizzy elements surrounding her.