Simpson pledges devotion to a partner (“For Your Love”) and credits a young man with heroically changing her life (“There You Were” with Marc Anthony). Showing self-respect, she cuts loose a guy with a cheating heart (“I Never”), requires reciprocity from a commitment-phobe (“What’s It Gonna Be”) and demands healthy changes in a relationship (“Little Bit”). An animated version of the hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” praises God for watching over His children.
Considering that this young lady has garnered a loyal following based on her personal claims of chastity, the imminent sexual compromise on “Irresistible” is disturbing. She knows she shouldn’t give in, but seems past the point of no return (“I can’t stop fanning the fire . . . Now inescapable . . . I just can’t stop myself”). Similarly, “Forever in Your Eyes” finds a couple lying together “all through the night” (“This attraction fuels a passion/That’s just too strong for us to try and fight”).
The same artist who recorded “Heart of Innocence” on her last disc makes no such claims of purity here. If anything, Irresistible copes with temptation by yielding to it which, in conjunction with Simpson’s general immodesty (Plugged In has decided not to post a picture of Jessica’s album cover on its Web site due to her see-through blouse), models a dubious sexual ethic. Can’t she see that the same Lord she worships with “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” also established the moral line she’s determined to straddle? A huge disappointment.