High Dive

Maria McKee’s first studio album in seven years is also her first release on her own label. To go from producing an inescapable global hit like "Show Me Heaven" to funding one’s own recordings in a little over a decade may not seem the ideal career trajectory, but the truth is that McKee was always far more indie rocker than pop diva. "Show Me Heaven" certainly paid a few bills, but it also served to overshadow her sterling earlier work with Lone Justice. High Dive, then, is McKee as she would prefer to be seen--far closer to Kirsty MacColl than Whitney Houston, a wry, literate singer-songwriter blessed with a voice that's both technically pristine and approachably human. Though High Dive is marred in spots by over-fussy production, the best moments here, such as the wise and witty title track and the unabashedly Lone Justice-like "In Your Constellation," justify McKee’s investment in herself. Andrew Mueller