Beverley Knight is not the redeemer of British R&B; she is the last woman standing. In the last few years, and particularly since the garage explosion, we have seen acts like Kele le Roc, Shola Ama and Mark Morrison disappear through lack of clout - and this is no reflection on talent. Beverley sings like a dream, but the watery chart pandering of 'Who I Am' is unlikely to bring her that hunky combination of credibility and stardom she so desperate wants.
When she originally broke through with the single, 'Flava of the Old Skool', it all seemed so effortless. Yet this album, like her last one, seems to reach for something that simply isn't there anymore - a commercial audience for homegrown soul. This time round, the soul is strategically pop-packaged and frilled with acoustics. It's much more fetching when the bass is deeper, the rhythm smoother, such as on the classy duet with Musiq Soulchild, 'Beautiful Contradiction'. And when our Bev gets feisty on her superb recent hit 'Get Up!' and a fiery follow-up, 'Same (As I Ever Was)'.
But on the whole it's edging towards the bland and dispensable, with the second single release 'Shoulda Woulda Coulda' taking some of the blame. Unlike TLC's successful transition to the acoustic sound with 'Fanmail', this attempt to push Beverley to the crossover point reveals more a lack of real direction than a soul star at her peak. No matter how much she may insist, we're not convinced that 'Who I Am' is really who Beverley Knight is.
