Calma Carmona — who has Puerto Rican heritage and currently lives on the island — is, very ably, carving out a place for herself in a populated field of singers reclaiming soul music as their own. Carmona is part of a wave of female vocalists with Caribbean roots making a big noise across pop music: Rihanna, Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, just to highlight a few of its best-known names.

Carmona's new album, 100 Vidas, is a bold statement of independence; the strength of her musical vision is contrasted with the coy, soft nature of her vocals.

The album's title track is a great example of the well-crafted combination of down tempo soul and Afro Caribbean hand drums percolating under a meditation on love, of another person and ethnic identity.

The gears shift slightly-- from a gentle hip-sway to full-on gyration — on "Mi Cura." That physical-musical analogy was deliberate, since Carmona's music and stage performance exalts in the physical not as a cheap and easy come-on but more like a celebration of bodily joy — a celebration in which she is in complete control.

Where 100 Vidas ultimately succeeds is in its arrangements' reflection of a Puerto Rico that is equal parts salsa and soul. "No Puedo Evitarlo" is my favorite example of how they mastered even the nuanced 16th notes of the percussion based-music into easy-going slow jams.

Calma Carmona is yet another face of the 21st century Caribbean woman and 100 Vidas could be the soundtrack of that new identity.

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