On "what silence knows," Shara Nelson declares her independence, and it feels good. When you first heard her voice, it was roaming the landscape of Massive Attack's brilliant 1991 album, Blue Lines. Three years after "Unfinished Sympathy," the hit single from that record, startled the music world, she delivers some downbeat soul of her own.

Listen and catch Nelson contemplating her potential independence as a woman and as an artist, rolling with romance and bathing in a tub of soothing sentimentality all in the same breath. Sprinkled with self-affirming mantras ("'Cause I'm so proud/I wanna sing/I wanna shout") and weighty questions ("How close/Is too close/When there was never/Rules laid down"), What Silence Knows comes across as upfront and headstrong yet completely vulnerable.

The album opens ambitiously with "Nobody," on which Nelson purrs: "I wanna go where no one has gone before me/I'll stand alone even when it's cold outside." Sounds familiar, but clichés are only clichés because they've worked before. Her moody, sensuous soprano set against the thumping beats and ominous strings lends her words dramatic force.

Other songs like "Down That Road," co-written with P.M. Dawn's Prince Be, and "Chance" are skillful, soulful dance pop. The flirtatious, radio-friendly "One Good-bye in Ten" (with St. Etienne collaborating) is a dainty smile back at Motown, and "Inside Out," on which Nelson is accompanied by a spare solo guitar, is the record's most moving track because of its starkness.

Nelson's postmodern soul revolves around her vocals, which reign gracefully over this album's 10 tracks. At times it sounds as if she's straining for effect, but she's hardly just another lovelorn prima donna. With a rich blend of hip-hop and dance beats, emotional crescendos and orchestral arrangements supporting her, Shara Nelson takes the plunge – and emerges with a stirring, impassioned debut. (RS 696)

NILOU PANAHPOUR