Sex & Cigarettes

This is Toni Braxton’s first solo album in eight years, but—the percolating club beats of “Missin’” aside—she doesn’t feel the need to absorb any prevailing trends to re-announce herself. Over elegant R&B arrangements, her emotionally fluent voice remains a timeless and powerful draw. As she picks through the pain and betrayal of failed love, the defiance she summons on “Deadwood” is as stirring as the despair that sighs across piano ballad “Foh.” Braxton may have preceded this release with the happy news of her engagement to Bryan “Birdman” Williams, but she’s still a potent transmitter of heartache.

The queen of the coy R&B ballad returns for her first solo album in nearly a decade, making only a few concessions to contemporary trends.

As her 1993 blockbuster debut approached its 25th anniversary, Toni Braxton proceeded to collect accolades while moving forward.

If her recent engagement to Birdman and the cover art — her lingerie tips a hat to her racy 1997 Vibe layout — were any indicators, it would...