Five star

IF ANASTACIA is driven by girl power, she's kept on her mum's high heels and face powder to perform.

Her's is not the voice of a girl. Classified as one of the most recognised singing voices in the music world, Anastacia's sound is all-woman.

And while she has the passion and range of Whitney and Mariah, she doesn't see the need to show off and trill up and down the octaves just for the sake of it, which is a blessed relief.

This, her second album, shows the maturity of her voice hasn't swamped her girlish sense of fun.

Freak of Nature and Paid My Dues are all girl-power and snarls while Why'd you Lie to Me is a rap over the knuckles for male philanderers everywhere.

The next best feature on the album after the sheer individuality of her voice is the hill-billy use of acoustic guitar, fiddle and drum which lends an interesting bluesy dimension.

Freak of Nature has varied pace and unwavering talent and now Anastacia has come into the public eye even more with her being named official songstress for next year's World Cup, it will probably appear repeatedly on letters to Father Christmas.

SCC