After slogging it out on the British dance music scene for over a decade, contributing to records by S-Express, William Orbit's Bass-O Matic, and one-hit wonders Gusto, Ken Doh, and Josh Wink, DJ and vocal diva Sonique finally got her big break in 2000 when her club smash It Feels so Good topped the chart in the U.K. and reached number eight in the Billboard Hot 100. But after scooping the Best Female Solo Artist at the Brit Awards, she succumbed to the fate of fellow winners Shola Ama, Des'ree, and Ms. Dynamite by failing miserably to consolidate her success with her follow-up. Indeed, while her first album, Hear My Cry, effortlessly achieved multi-platinum status, sophomore effort Born to Be Free limped in at a disappointing number 184, selling barely a fraction of as that of its predecessor. It's a puzzling reversal of fortunes, considering that its 14 tracks, produced by the likes of Rob Davis (Kylie Minogue) and Rick Nowels (Madonna), are just as accomplished and eclectic, taking in a whole host of floor-filling sounds to create the same dance compilation vibe as Sonique's debut. Her trademark brand of glossy, string-soaked Euro-dance still remains her most prominent sound, as shown on the emotive hook-laden Hold Me Now, the haunting, operatic Love Washes Away, and the plucked guitar-led lead single Can't Make Up My Mind. But elsewhere, she also tackles pulsating progressive techno, as on the Underworld-esque Will You Still Want Me, skittering drum‘n'bass on the hypnotic Roni Size-produced Right Here You an' I, and even old-school R&B on the Soul II Soul-influenced Seriously, with just as much conviction. There might not be anything as gloriously anthemic as the three singles from her debut, but the likes of Alive, a brooding slice of downbeat dance-pop which appears to borrow the guitar hook from Radiohead's Street Spirit, the addictive 2-step garage-fused You're the Reason, and the HI-NRG Euro-house of I'm Gonna Love You, which sounds like a Culture Beat record from 1993, are all worthy of gracing the upper reaches of the charts, as well as the dancefloor. The album runs out of steam toward the end, particularly on Please, a rather tuneless attempt at early-'90s New Jack Swing, and the pedestrian Sonique Beatmix of Can't Make Up My Mind, which adds nothing to the original. Overall, however, its inventive production, infectious tunes, and Sonique's distinctive Anita Baker-esque vocals ensure that Born to Be Free is a much better listen than its dismal chart position suggests. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi

1		Alive
2		Hold Me Now
3		Can't Make up My Mind
4		Magic
5		Love Washes Away
6		Will You Want Me
7		Freefalling (Mum's Favourite)
8		Right Here You an' I
9		Seriously
10		You're the Reason
11		Born to Be Free
12		Please
13		I'm Gonna Love You
14		Can't Make up My Mind (Sonique Beatmix)