Channeling the late greats Miriam Makeba and Brenda Fassie (which many know is an enormously difficult feat), a fiery new soul singer is on the scene. And, while she may share African heritage with soul singers like Makeba and Fassie, her voice is not distinctly African.

Yes, Selloane Nkhela, or known to her fans as Selloane, is native of a country where artists like Makeba spoke their conscience through music and were consequently banned during the apartheid regime that separated White South Africans from Black South Africans.

The angst, the pain, the unabashed hope that characterized the music of Makeba runs unbridled throughout Selloane's newest album - Lerato. The term "lerato" means "love" in Selloane's native tongue of Sotho.

Love. It is the thread that holds this project together, but most importantly, it is the thread that holds all human experience together. Thus, this project - while four of the tracks are sung in an African language - is completely accessible to any human being that knows the sensation of love unrequited, a love for a hurting nation or a love that endures even after heartbreak.

The album starts off with a jazzy, upbeat Afro-funk tune called "Celebration," which will have your feet a-dancing and spur you on toward the more subdued, heartfelt ballads to come.

Her ode to the motherland, "Africa," which is a unique arrangement and adaptation of the "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika," the South African National Anthem, moves you to solemn prayer and thought about a continent riddled with civil war, famine, disease and the like. One cannot listen to this song and not feel the pain communicated through the belted notes of this Broadway songstress.

The next stand-out tune is one shared with fellow Broadway player of The Lion King, James Brown Orleans. "Who Knows" is the kind of song that serves as the mood music for a car ride on that first date. The kind that disguises heart flutters, yet conjures up images of you and your date dancing amidst the starlit sky.

While Selloane has received acclaim from audiences overseas, this - her third studio album - is one that will resonate with American audiences - her new target demographic since her move to New York about seven years ago.

But, what you should look out for: "Good Thang" - a track that will remain in heavy rotation on a funk lover's Ipod and is the definitive crossover hit on the project. It has the instrumental strength and vocal positivity to position Selloane as a soul/pop icon on mainstream American radio.