For her second solo album, the former Young Disciple opted for a jazzier,more soulful (more "live") feel than on her 1994 debut True Spirit, all the better to showcase her breathy, sultry, strikingly powerful voice with. It's a voice that has quite some pedigree behind it--60s soul belter Vicki Anderson was her mother, and the London diva is also step-daughter to Vicki's fellow JB, Bobby Byrd. And she does them proud. As might be expected from its title, Blessed Burden is an album with a strong spiritual bent, from a scouring reading of "Peace In The Valley", through the Paul Weller-influenced "Burnin' Bridges" and the thoughtful "Leopards In The Temple". One to rank alongside Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation Of.... --Everett True