Reviews

-- Andi Zeisler

Ultra Nate
Situation Critical
(Strictly Rhythm)

With the recent crossover success of "Free," a breezy four-to-the-floor housey anthem, early '90s dance-music diva Ultra Nate accomplished a rare feat: She regained a spot in the pop-culture mainstream. Her contemporaries, singers like Jocelyn Brown and Martha Wash, have attempted comebacks but only made it among the dance music demimonde. Now, Nate is trying something even more ambitious: She wants to prove again that pre-electronica dance music can move the mind as well as it moves the body.

Nate was succeeding in this quest when her career fell off in 1994. Although defined by lofty ambition, it began almost by accident. In the late '80s, she was a premed student at Morgan State University and danced regularly at a Baltimore nightclub. There, the Basement Boys -- producers of Crystal Waters' early hits -- asked her to sing for them. She had sung in church and decided to give it a try. The collaboration created "It's Over Now," a club hit that led to a deal with Warner Bros. Her first recording, Blue Notes in the Basement, was a canny collection of dance-pop that boosted "Rejoicing" and "It Is Love" onto the pop charts. On 1993's One Woman's Insanity she wrote more and developed a theme about a woman's attempt to maintain identity and prerogative in a corporate world. The clueless label botched the marketing and, after the record stiffed, dropped her. Nate's work disappeared from the mainstream, but she continued to work, mostly with British producers. She signed with the dance indie Strictly Rhythm and began working a single with plans for an album to follow.

The radio and soundtrack (I Know What You Did Last Summer) success of "Free" may have a desultory effect on Situation Critical. The record strains to maintain the momentum of the single, and as a result its dynamics are off. The album races out of the box blaring, one 115 bpm song after another, before settling into a smoother mix of varied tempos and grooves. The songs themselves are well-crafted with good hooks, but they feel better-suited for a Walkman at the gym than a home stereo. Despite her church background, Nate's voice lacks the gospel thunder of Wash or Brown, but she makes up for it with nuance and subtlety; she's vehement without hysterics on uptempo numbers like "A New Kind of Medicine," and her technique deepens slower tunes like "It's Crying Time." Unfortunately, her songs lack the depth of her last recording. The title refers to the state of the union; her lyrics encourage progressive thinking, but they don't get much beyond idle slogans. Nate has had two goals, personal and artistic. Although Situation Critical is an engaging listen, it only accomplishes the former.

-- Martin Johnson