Sunshine Anderson - Sunshine at Midnight - CD

Macy Gray prot￩g￩ Sunshine Anderson struck gold literally -- with her gold-selling debut album Your Woman. The album's lead single "Heard it All Before" became one of 2001's dance floor standards and the year's standout "jilted lover" anthem. Then, the unthinkable happened, and Anderson became unwitting fodder of the Atlantic Records/Warner Brothers merger. The overnight star suddenly found herself without a label or a recording contract. Some six years later, she resumes her career in the company of Music World records and Your Woman producer Mike City. On the resulting Sunshine at Midnight, the singer is back in fighting form, showing up with a strong collection of R&B fare.

Unfortunately, none of Midnight's songs pack the same wallop that "Heard it All Before" had in spades, but Anderson is clearly a fanatic of contemporary R&B. She is striving for a class of soulstress that includes Mary J., crafting classy, smooth songs to suit her consistently flawless voice. As such, there is no shortage of fuel for the clubs here, especially "Switch it Up," her latest anthem for the recently betrayed. Midnight is about as straightforward as middle of the road R&B gets, but it is solidly produced and well-sung mainstream R&B, which is always a joy to behold. Sunshine is all soul and while she has yet to be in quite the same company as singer/songwriters like John Legend or Jill Scott, her work remains solid, honest and gold standard pop music.

Midnight's songs have two distinct tones: that of love gone all kinds of wrong, and love that is inspiring all sorts of good. Even the love on "Good Love" is all bad; but she plays the other side of the coin, too, singing up the virtues of love's power in ballads like "Being With You." She and her production team do her the most justice on the album's upbeat tracks like "Wear the Crown." But there is no other subject that R&B owns quite like that of the broke, lazy boyfriend, and Sunshine reads hers' the riot act only too well on "Something I Wanna Give You." The album doesn't pop and shimmer quite like her debut, but clearly, that's not what she's after. She is reaching for something somewhat classical and consistent, pursuing the neo-soul roots that gave rise to her career. Not quite the same blushing ingenue of her 2001 debut, Sunshine Anderson is still a star worth watching out for.

By Rachel Parker