Cox's 1995 eponymous debut may well have spawned two welcome hits in Australia, but it still didn't give her the mega-success she so desired in the States. With the follow-up, "One Wish", Cox and her label, Arista, mean business.

When Cox came to Australia to promote her first album three years ago, she confirmed then that her sophomore was almost finished. 'I thought I would complete it' she laughs. 'Those songs didn't make it and we went into a whole new direction.' Indeed, Cox realised that there was no point in rushing the project. Instead she and Arista made a concerted effort to locate the best material. By now, she had enough of a profile in the US industry to command quality selections. And so, Deborah ended up working with a different lineup-- with today's hottest properties (Stevie J, Rodney Jerkins and KayGee); the inevitable MOR veterans (Diane Warren, David Foster); and even some leftfielders (Montell Jordan and Shep Crawford, DJ Quik). While for her debut, she collaborated with Dallas Austin, Babyface and Daryl Simmons, only Simmons reappears in the extensive credits of "One Wish". 'Stevie J was the first producer I worked with,' Cox says of the LP. 'We went into the studio and recorded "September". We actually wrote "September" together with Gordon Chambers. That was like the first kind of feel we got for the record.'

New Jack singer Montell Jordan and his studio partner Shep Crawford made a pair of stirring contributions -- one being the first single, "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here", a classy pop-ballad. 'A lot of people don't realise that Montell is so in tune with females and he really knows how to write songs that express that,' Deborah suggests. Shep also provided her with another downtempo, "We Can't Be Friends", the vocals of which Montell helped arrange. Cox performs the song as a duet with Next's RL Huggar. 'He was so funny. He is not fazed by this business at all. And he just does whatever he wants to do. It made the session so much more fun, because we just went in and recorded . . . I think he really outdid himself on the duet. He's really showing a side of himself that people haven't ever seen -- even on his own album.'

Overall, Deborah feels more confident about this second album. 'I've really grown, both musically and vocally, since the first album. And I think this album really shows that. It's almost taken a whole new direction . . . but, then again, it's still like a continuation from the first, because both of the albums are me. The "Deborah Cox" album was the Deborah Cox who left Toronto and moved to LA. Now, the Canadian is used to living in America. 'With "One Wish", I kind of understand the ropes a bit more. I know a little more about the whole American vibe. And so, it was a lot easier to put together. This album explores a much more soulful, gospelly R&B area than the first, which was primarily much more inspired by my pop influences, coming from Canada.'

It is perhaps surprising that Cox and her longtime songwriting partner (and childhood sweetheart), Lascelles Stephens, didn't contribute more this time. Was she pressured into working with established hitmakers in order to break into the US market? 'Oh yeah, definitely,' Cox replies candidly. 'You know, it's a business and you've gotta be open and sometimes you're not going to be able to do the things that you want to do. But in the end I realised that having your own opinion is good, and so I didn't just go with whatever the record company was presenting to me. I listened to the songs. I made sure that I was really feeling it in my gut, and that is how I approached every song on this album. So even though I didn't write most of the material, it still comes from a place that I feel represents me.'

The pair have successfully passed on their surplus material to other artists. Deni Hines recorded a song of theirs for her UK debut, "Pay Attention", and, more recently, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Tami Davis have accepted demos. 'That is really the icing on the cake for us,' says Deborah, 'because songwriting is like a hobby. When another artist expresses an interest in recording one of our songs, we get really excited.'

Unwittingly, Cox has been making strides in other areas too. She is as surprised as anyone by the overwhelming response to the house/club mixes of her singles by the likes of David Morales and Hex Hector. Deborah has in fact enjoyed three number one dance hits. It's not that she doesn't like dance music. Living in Canada, Deborah found herself more exposed to dance than her American counterparts, because (as with Australia) this genre is much more likely to cross over than urban music.

Cox herself gets into the garage end of things. 'What I like about doing dance music is that I get to bring some emotion to the music. Because when you think of dance music or techno, you don't think of emotion. You just think about dancing. The remixes of those songs -- like "Who Do U Love", "Things Just Ain't The Same" and "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" -- are emotional, but they use a really fast beat, and so I like them. Dance music enables me to be a lot more free. It's not as restrictive as R&B. I like the fact that there are no rules when you do dance music. When I do my remixes, I go in and I re-sing the vocals. I just play around and have fun. There's no structure. I don't have to build the song. I just go in there and SANG!'

In a "Billboard" feature, Cox stated that her next album will see her diversify far more. What exactly did she mean? 'I still wanna do' more jazz and I wanna do a reggae song,' she says. 'I've always loved reggae music. I grew up in a West Indian home and reggae is a part of me that I haven't got out yet. I really want to do a song with Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean or even some cats from Jamaica, so I can just get a real nice authentic reggae song.' Cox has all manner of dreams to fulfil: she would also like to extend her writing for other acts; set up her own production company; act; produce movies; and write books and make music for children. It looks as if Canada has produced some diva.

"One Wish" is out through BMG.