Review: Heather Headley, In My Mind

If In My Mind sags, it’s not because Heather Headley is in any danger of a sophomore slump.

Heather Headley, In My MindHeather Headley’s In My Mind is the Broadway-actress-turned-recording-artist’s second album. Headley scored a surprise Grammy nomination for Best New Artist two years ago that many speculated would cause an upset. Headley went home empty-handed, but she had little to complain about; her debut stood out because it was propelled by her voice, not the fancy, fussed-over production of many of her peers. For the most part, In My Mind follows that template (the title track, “Losing You,” and “I Didn’t Mean To,” a song about cheating that employs a haunting sample of Helen Reddy’s “I Didn’t Mean to Love You”), but songs like “Am I Worth It” and the Babyface-penned “Me Time” often succumb to health-spa gooiness. “The Letter” is so unabashedly trite that the writers don’t even bother to modernize the Dear John ballad by titling it “The Email” or “The Text Message.” And the Trinidad-born Headley’s desire to show her inherent versatility with dancehall tracks like “How Many Ways” and “Rain,” featuring the always-irksome Shaggy, is ultimately the album’s biggest weakness as it breaks the flow of an otherwise bed, bath, and beyond-ready disc. If In My Mind sags, it’s not because Headley is in any danger of a sophomore slump (her small but no doubt eager fanbase will eat this up, dancehall and all), but because the album doesn’t offer or even attempt anything truly fresh, with Headley content to be nothing more than a voice—albeit a good one.

Score: 
 Label: RCA  Release Date: January 31, 2006  Buy: Amazon

Sal Cinquemani

Sal Cinquemani is the co-founder and co-editor of Slant Magazine. His writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Village Voice, and others. He is also an award-winning screenwriter/director and festival programmer.

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