by Seth Colter Walls

Pretty much nobody roots against Whitney Houston. After the train-wreck marriage to Bobby Brown (complete with embarrassing reality show), her admission of substance abuse problems, and the long periods of inactivity, it's difficult not to feel for the female singer who's had as much influence as anyone else on the post-Aretha direction of popular soul. The sense that Houston is due for a reversal of fortune is why her new album, I Look To You, should perform acceptably on the charts; a sympathetic public can take an artist part of the way toward a comeback. Though songs like her new album's lead-off track also help a great deal. Co-written by Alicia Keys and produced by hip-hop auteur Swizz Beatz, the stripped-down, swinging disco of "Million Dollar Bill" is precisely the kind of material Houston can still own. The sound is slightly throwback in nature, but with a tasteful sonic update that can fend off accusations of cheese. Unfortunately, that sweet spot isn't hit as often as you might like on the rest of her new disc. Other superstar guest-writers like R. Kelly and Akon try to make Houston sound more contemporary than her noticeably changed voice will allow. That's not a knock against Houston's chops, either. Though its high notes are gone and the overall sound is rougher, Houston quite obviously still knows how to make music with her instrument. She wrings nice moments even out of the duller, cookie-cutter R&B numbers commissioned by label honcho Clive Davis. But when she picks up country-rocker Leon Russell's piano ballad "A Song for You" and decides, 90 seconds in, to take it to a rave, you can feel an interpretive risk being applied to a worthy composition. More of that, please.