I’ve been waiting since August for the release of Deborah Cox‘s new single, but the delay has so been worth it. True to form, the diva doesn’t disappoint, absolutely delivering the goods on “If It Wasn’t For Love,” which ranks among her best club tracks.

Since the Canadian singer-songwriter announced her arrival on the scene with 1995’s “Sentimental,” few new voices in music share the kind of old-school versatility Cox has displayed in the decade and a half following her debut. Rooted in urban/R&B grooves, her music career soon crossed over to dancefloors, onto Broadway stages, and into jazz clubs.

“Sentimental” was also Cox’s introduction to the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs chart, reaching just #33. But follow-up single, “Who Do U Love,” went all the way to #1, the first of ten tracks Cox has taken to the top. With a strong set of remixes for “If It Wasn’t For Love” (from the likes of Mixin Marc & Tony Svejda, Tracy Young, Razor N Guido and Skribble, and Papercha$er), I’d say Cox is destined for another stay in the penthouse.

Should “If It Wasn’t For Love” go on to claim the throne (the track rises to #18 this week), Cox will have racked up her eleventh #1 hit, surpassing Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, and Pet Shop Boys, all of whom also have 10 club #1s to their credit.

Surveying the mixes for “If It Wasn’t For Love,” my pick is the hands-in-the-air Razor Guido Skribble remix. Together, the trio has constructed a tremendous platform that matches the intensity of Cox’s vocal performance.

Now if those rumored remixes of Cox’s collaboration with Tony Moran, “Tenderness,” would finally surface.

Purchase Deborah Cox – “If It Wasn’t For Love” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.