Kelly Rowland, the former Destiny’s Child runner-up, has approached the problem of her solo career from any number of directions. She’s tried various types of music, collaborated far and wide. This year she’ll be one of the post-Cowell replacement judges on “The X Factor” in England. Most recently she’s become a dance diva, having some of her biggest international success working with the French dance producer David Guetta on “When Love Takes Over.”
Dance music is a great place to hide in plain sight, a world where Ms. Rowland’s presence matters more than her voice, which is sometimes strong but without texture.
Given her recent success and the recent dance-music infestation of the pop and R&B charts, no one would have blamed Ms. Rowland for going whole-hog in that direction on “Here I Am,” her third solo album, and first in four years — it would have been a craven move but an understandable one.
