** 1/2 VANESSA WILLIAMS “Next,” Mercury

It should be abundantly clear by now: Williams is not the chanteuse to turn to for cup-runneth-over emotion. She’s much too cool for that. A typical Williams tune is one in which she can deliver a technically pure, if emotionally distant, performance.

While they’re usually lovely, these classy-but-bland songs don’t represent any risk at this point in Williams’ career. And anyone who knows anything at all about Williams would have to peg her as a bold risk-taker.

She employs a variety of producers here, but the sassy, upbeat defiance of “Happiness” makes you wish she had confined herself to the services of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. They have a knack for loosening up even the most determinedly cool vocalist, and Williams is no exception.

Ever the trained actress, she turns “What Were You Thinkin’ ‘Bout?” into a caustic, scorned-woman’s tale. Not even the song’s quirky rhythmic turns can throw her. Williams is too smart and savvy to ever deliver a record that’s not worth a listen. When she finally decides to apply her daring and smarts to nothing but bold, A-list material, that will be the record truly worthy of her gifts.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).

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* Excerpts from these albums and other recent releases are available on The Times’ World Wide Web site. Point your browser to: http://stats.nohib.com/soundclips