Nicole Pensiero, www.citypaper.net/articles, January 22-29, 1998

One thing that comes through loud and clear when listening to Deanna Kirk's second album, Where Are You Now, is the fact this silky-voiced chanteuse doesn't want to be pinned to any one musical label.

So you've got a bit of everything: folky vignettes, smooth-funk workouts, dreamy ballads and even a bit of humor (Kirk turns "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" into a sexy jazz ballad).

Kirk—who impressed the audience as the opener for Jane Siberry's Christmas concert at the Painted Bride—is talented enough to pull this all-over-the-place approach off.

But Where Are You Now makes it clear that this singer—who for several years performed at and ran her own Greenwich Village nightclub, Deanna's—is best suited for the more ethereal, soothing numbers. There's a genuine power to Kirk's voice and an authenticism that at times seems dimmed by layers of production. But on many tracks, Kirk positively sparkles. "Mariana Came To," the album's strongest, is a story-song that uses the themes of love and madness while touching on the power of dreams. "Carousel" shows off Kirk's poetic smarts, both lyrically and musically, with a chorus that spins and weaves much like a merry-go-round, while "Take Down The Kashbah" is eerily unforgettable.

Kirk veers off into melodrama on occasion—"No Ghosts Allowed" and "When Loves Comes Around" sound strained and a bit self-important—but overall she proves herself a strong songwriter as well as singer. The title track and "Not The One"—where Kirk comes to the cold realization that she's not fulfilling her lover's expectations—are fine examples of her ability to mingle a sense of personal experience with an observer's detachment. Kirk's a talent to watch.