THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Intimacy pulls the listener back time and time again on Anna Laube's debut bow, Outta My Head. The deeply personal tracks, such as Goodbye Blue Monday, shut down the outside world. Laube sings of love on Beautiful Boy and Angelina ( Angelina/So glad you're mine ) . Outta My Head is one of those collections that you want to listen to on your own, but part of you wants to give a copy to all of your friends, especially to those who are Norah Jones fans. Laube blends jazz, folk, country and blues in the style of Lucinda Williams and Tara Angell. She will be taking to the stage on Feb. 28 at The Smoke Daddy, 1804 W. Division. Outta My Head is out now on Gingko Records.

Fresh from co-headlining the Jägermeister Music Tour, the Hawaiian reggae band Pepper recently announced its upcoming inclusion in this year's Vans' Warped Tour. In the meantime, this trio is undergoing a two-month tour on the heels of releasing the Atlantic set No Shame. Pepper has slated a stop in the Windy City on Feb. 25 at the House of Blues with the Mad Caddies. Pepper's sophomore album is nothing to sneeze at; No Shame boasts collaborations with Tony Kanal ( of No Doubt ) , Paul Leary ( of Butthole Surfers ) and Nick Hexum ( of 311 ) .

How quickly I fall for a straight guy sporting some eyeliner—no thanks to Robert Smith of the Cure. The godfather of goth hints at offering a remedy for those going through withdrawal waiting for a fix of new Cure material. In an interview on Billboard.com, Smith describes the band's forthcoming project as 'more in the style of the Kiss Me album, with different things happening instead of being a mood piece.' Replacing the keyboardist with the original guitarist Porl Thompson, Smith is not worried about the lack of synthesizers. He adds, 'there's no need for keyboards when you have Porl playing guitar. He can pretty much create any sound you want. He's brought back a sense of urgency and we've got a rock edge again.' While the unnamed upcoming album does not have a street date yet, The Cure plans to headline the Ultra Music Festival in Miami on March 23-24.

Between being on vacation and seeming like her lips are sealed without new material sine God Bless the Go-Go's from 2001, Belinda Carlisle returns with Voila, a collection of French standards. Now living in France, Carlisle has fallen in love with these classic pop gems and wanted to record them in her adopted tongue. John Reynolds ( Sinead O'Connor, The Indigo Girls ) produced Voila, which is Carlisle's seventh solo outing. ( The limited edition also contains four tracks done in English. ) Shedding her image as the carefree California girl from MTV's heyday who is prancing in the fountain in the town square or water skiing, Carlisle wants to be seen as the mature woman she is. Saluting Edith Piaf and Serge Gainsbourg is a step in the right direction—for further proof see Carlisle's pictorial in August 2001's Playboy. Ever so nonchalantly, Carlisle reveals to PlanetOut.com of her experimentation with other women: 'Without going into too much detail, we've all been there and done that.' Now, if only she would add Turn To You to her repertoire.

I am still high from Mary J. Blige's show-stealing performance at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. Never have I seen Blige more comfortable with her voice. Accompanied by an orchestra, a full band and three back-up singers, Blige gave us the 411 as she belted out her comeback hit, Be Without You, meshed with Stay With Me Baby. The latter is a classic blues number, and my favorite version is heard on Marcy Levy's hard-to-find Button Fly Blues CD. Before the ceremonies were over, Blige returned to the stage sporting a new hairdo and outfit to sing Runaway Love along with hip-hopper Ludacris. The Queen of Hip Hop Soul's hits package, Reflections: A Retrospective, is out now on Geffen Records.

Still in shock over the loss of Anna Nicole Smith? Few know that Smith, like her idol Marilyn Monroe, actually contributed to music. The Guess model sang a bubbly version of My Heart Belongs To Daddy in 1997. I first heard of this rarity during Smith's E! True Hollywood Story special. This camp take has Smith's Monroe-like vocals over a Eurobeat with some Latin flavorings. Also, Cyndi Lauper wrote the number It's Hard To Be Me on her 2002 EP, Shine, in response to a quote from the late Playmate. Maybe Simon Cowell will have the American Idol contestants dedicate a version of Candle in the Wind to the recently departed.