Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Whitney 'Sublime' After 7 Years Away

'The Voice' is still there, with help from industry giants

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 26, 2009 11:35 AM CDT

(Newser) – It’s been seven years since Whitney Houston’s last album, and many younger listeners probably know her better for her recently-troubled life than for her series of huge hits. But her new album, I Look to You, marks a triumphant return, writes Jim DeRogatis in the Chicago Sun-Times. “Houston’s singing is still incredibly powerful—a sublime mix of gospel purity, pop prissiness, and bedroom purr.”

The album brings together the “knob-twirling and songwriting” of such industry giants as R. Kelly, Akon, and Alicia Keys, but “despite all of those stylistically diverse egos in the kitchen, I Look to You doesn’t sound overcooked at all.” It has a single thematic focus: “weathering hard times and coming out the better for them,” DeRogatis notes. “When our heroine croons, ‘I want you to love me like I never left,’ she gives us plenty of reasons to heed her call.”

In this Feb. 7, 2009 file photo, singer Whitney Houston performs at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills, Calif.
In this Feb. 7, 2009 file photo, singer Whitney Houston performs at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills, Calif.   (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg, file)
Whitney Houston's first album in seven years, I Look to You, is a sublime mix of gospel purity, pop prissiness, and bedroom purr.%u201D
Whitney Houston's first album in seven years, I Look to You, is "a sublime mix of gospel purity, pop prissiness, and bedroom purr.%u201D
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
cougar09
Aug 26, 2009 8:30 AM CDT
thank god she's making a come-back! so tired of these teeny boppers lip syncing and dancing in their bra's thinking they can sing when they can't carry a damn note! Whitney Houston can out sing all of those little girls!
bahari@bellsouth.net
Aug 26, 2009 7:14 AM CDT
So glad that she is back and got her life together. You go girl!!
youngblood
Aug 26, 2009 5:38 AM CDT
Whitney is the real deal!

More Newser Stories

Girls' Debut 'Dizzily Powerful'

Flaming Lips Back to Bizarre With Embryonic

Paramore's Latest One of Year's Best

Built to Spill Back in Top Form

Hip-Hop's Next Big Thing 'Fine, Fresh, Serious'


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne