*** CeCe Winans

EVERLASTING LOVE

(Atlantic)

Don't expect CeCe Winans, of the gospel-singing Winans Family, to perform standard sexpot pop in a watered-down hip-hop vein. Faith's her thing -- "the only thing that you can count on," she tells the listener on Everlasting Love's opener, "Well, Alright!" Winans's quiet songs address you up close; you can almost feel her breath on your shoulder as her voice -- steady and strong in her favored contralto range, and soft like classic Diana Ross, no less, in occasional flights of soprano -- touches the melody where it hurts. As strong as she is sensitive, in "I Am" she takes on the role of the "I who created the whole universe," singing "It's my air you breathe" with only -- but every bit of -- the air she needs to prove her point. As rhythmically appropriate as she is melodic, on the Tony Rich-produced "What About You" she slides as the music does. On "Well, Alright!" she does a little dance to a beat almost as sweet as one of Ultra Naté's. All that's missing is a song that keeps on sliding for longer than a brief few measures -- but not to worry: a club remix of "Well, Alright!" is rumored in the works.

-- Michael Freedberg