November 25, 1999
Every Day Is A New Day
The key to understanding [a]Diana Ross[/a] is that she's always thought of sophistication as a right....
6 / 10
The key to understanding Diana Ross is that she's always thought of sophistication as a right. Ever since the heyday of The Supremes, the humble woman from a Chicago housing project has been the epitome of a power diva. What she lacks in true southern soul grit, she makes up for in a fragile pop voice whose timbre hides a ruthless, ambitious and granite-hard person.
So 1999 finds La Ross lovelorn and heartbroken; and while 'Every Day...' is decidedly adult, there are subtle nods in the production and ornate backings to techno and modern-day R&B. Bar the handbag house remix of 'Not Over You Yet', she favours a more populist abstraction of US black radio bedroom music. Even the quasi-Africanisms of the gospelly 'He Lives In You' make sense within the glossy parameters of the studio.
Late 30-something suits will take solace from Ms Ross' tales of jet-set relationship traumas. And those looking for the angry spite of her recent high-profile tribulations will have to search elsewhere. Miss Ross keeps the knives and highly manicured claws well hidden.
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