Simply Deep

10/30/2002 9:00 PM, LAUNCH
Dan Leroy

She emerged from the shadow of her bandmate Beyonce Knowles by joining Nelly on last summer's slow jam du jour, "Dilemma." But the solo debut of Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland is a bigger and more pleasant surprise, with a persistent undercurrent of neo-soul enriching the sort of high-gloss R&B that's been Rowland's calling card to date.

Not that this is a commercial gamble on the order of Lauryn Hill's recent "Unplugged"; a few numbers, like "Love/Hate," could easily pass for the latest Destiny's Child single (especially when Beyonce's little sister Solange adds her harmonies to the mix). And, of course, there's the inevitable reappearance of "Dilemma." Those moments are offset, however, by a more subtle and thoughtful groove, most evident on the gentle conga clatter of "(Love Lives In) Strange Places," and "Stole," a Res-like rock & soul reflection on a teen gunman and his victims. Both simpler and deeper than anyone might have expected, Simply Deep puts some further distance between Rowland and her day job.