The only time I’ve ever seen Ivana Santilli perform live was on television. She was doing an appearance at Muchmusic, back when Muchmusic did appearances for things smaller than, oh, Paris Hilton’s starring role in House Of Wax. Right after her performance of “Sun + Moon = Tomorrow,” Master T started raving about the drummer, who had perfectly recreated the drum’n'bass-lite beat backing the song. Of course, it would’ve been easy for Santilli to resort to programmed beats like everyone else, but then her modus operandi has always been a little different.

Santilli played keyboards and a mean trumpet for Bass is Base, an R&B band from Toronto whose name is still thrown around today (largely because of Santilli) but really seems to belong to a particular generation of people who really liked “Funkmobile” or “I Cry,” the two most prominent singles they released. Aside from that, I don’t know a damned thing about them, except that the group was dissolved around 1997. Santilli had by then started writing her own songs, and wanted to try them out without the safety net of a band to share the critical blame if things went wrong.

1999’s Brown and 2004’s Corduroy Boogie do look to the past a bit for inspiration, with their slinky grooves seemingly out of sync with current radio trends. It’s an intentional move, intended to pay tribute to the sounds Santilli grew up with. And while some have criticized Santilli for putting out slicker, vaguely retro albums at a time when everyone else is trying for edgier, more organic sounds, I figure that’s the whole point of her music. The polished veneer hints at heat below; “Breathe Inn” is like a steamy nightclub on a summer night, filmed in soft focus and slow motion.