Brian McKnight

Scientists have yet to statistically correlate rising pregnancy rates to the release of Brian McKnight albums, but we believe the evidence is out there. Exhibit A: the yearning, silky voice that wraps around rolling bedroom beats such as those in "Find Myself in You" and "Again." Exhibit B: the patience, sensitivity and attention demonstrated in lyrics such as these lines from the excellent "Comfortable": "Taking my time/ Sexing your mind/ Then I give it to you right/ I can do it how you like it girl." Ten is enough to make the stiffest knees quiver.

McKnight is a pop craftsman above all, and there's enough of that on his tenth LP to stave off
the sleepiness that he sometimes drifts into: The ballads cheese out some, but McKnight's
studied, sturdy M.O. enlivens modestly jumpy cuts like "Can't Leave You Alone" and the
hit-to-be "Used to Be My Girl."