Music Review

10 January 2009 00:51 BST

Anastacia: Heavy Rotation

Universal Music/Mercury Records, out now.

In a nutshell...

Anastacia gets retro and sexy.

What's it all about?

Anastacia recently signed a new recording deal with Mercury Records that saw her reuniting with the company's new president David Massey, whom Anastacia first teamed up with in 1999.

He said: "Anastacia and I have worked together for many years and I'm thrilled to have her join the Mercury/Universal family.

"It has been incredible to witness her growth and success thus far and we feel her best is yet to come with Heavy Rotation."

Who's it by?

Anastacia has one of the most distinctive voices in music and she's sold more than 14 million albums in Europe alone.

She was a huge presence in the charts between 2000 and 2004 combining soul, dance and rock to great effect.

After a couple of years away coping with illness, the globally-renowned singer-songwriter has returned with Heavy Rotation, which sees her collaborating with Ne-Yo, JR Rotem, Guy Chambers and Rodney Jerkins.

She said: "I called the album Heavy Rotation because it's a phrase that originated with DJs and for me the meaning is: life can be heavy but it all turns around and goes into something else. It seemed to be the prefect title for where I'm at in my life."

As an example...

"You can tear me apart/I can't be defeated." – Defeated

Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys

Anastacia is no stranger to award goodness ranging from MTV to Marie Claire, so with the wealth of talent on Heavy Rotation and her own powerhouse voice driving things, I think she'll attract some Grammy attention come gong season.

What the others say

"Anastacia's first studio album since 2004 sees a new woman on board. She's not poking fun at herself with the title Heavy Rotation, it's actually borrowed from a track on the album in which the phrase is a euphemism for sex. With a new husband in tow (she married her bodyguard Wayne Newton last year) has happiness brought the formula for homeland success to equal her achievements over here?

"... In summary: this is one happy Anastacia. Gone are the dark tracks of previous album Anastacia, replaced by soft ballads and upbeat disco stormers. Life on the sunny side is obviously doing her good, as is her partnership with Guy Chambers. Long may it continue – even, dare we say it, in heavy rotation." – BBC.co.uk

"The cover of Anastacia's fourth album shows the blonde belter draped across a bed with her stomach and plenty of cleavage on show. If this teasing pose came from Britney or Christina it wouldn't raise an eyebrow, but from the 40-year-old diva it feels slightly awkward. Sadly, this desire to seem youthful and contemporary is a key theme on Heavy Rotation, a record that often plays like a midlife crisis in musical form.

"... Lyrically, she never falters from her favourite subject of "standing up strong", even attempting to update I Will Survive for the noughties on Defeated. "You can say that you won but I'll never believe it," she roars. "I can't be defeated!" The cliche-ridden Same Song, where she tells us to throw our hands "in the air" and live "without a care", is just as uninspiring, pushing the star dangerously close to self-parody.

"Whether those who bought Anastacia's first three albums will be charmed by her fourth remains to be seen, but the camp bombast of Never Gonna Love Again and sunny pleasantries of In Summer should make decent radio fodder. For everyone else, however, Heavy Rotation will be too cringe-inducing to bear the repeated listens that its title promises." – Digital Spy.co.uk

So is it any good?

There's no doubting that Anastacia's going for an urban feel with this new album but there's a stylish retro lushness to the proceedings that elevate it out of a potential R 'n' B mire, notably on the majestic Same Song, Defeated and the 70s funkiness of opening track I Can Feel You which crackles with the big disco motifs of her previous work.

This track is quintessential Anastacia but shows how she's edged toward a more urban approach, however, it makes perfect sense that I Can Feel You is the first single from Heavy Rotation and should be ruling the airwaves on the Heart FM network.

Title track Heavy Rotation is a brilliant stab at the sound that Madonna is using nowadays but Anastacia's richer voice, full of soul and jazz greats such as Tina Turner and Etta James, bolsters the material to the nth degree, making what could be empty dance into something sensual and brimming with passion.

Heavy Rotation is a hits-heavy album however the stand-out track is the piano-led empowerment of Defeated, co-written by Anastacia and JR Rotem, sporting excellent production by the latter.

Xtina and Britney may be the pop princesses yet it's Anastacia who can wear the crown while the bratty divas scurry around for the double-edged attention of the media.

And it's Anastacia's timeless vocals coupled to her inner core of steel that will see her providing the soundtrack for the coming decades.

Welcome back Anastacia, 2009 is yours for the taking!

10/10

Lee Davis