Breezy, funk-lite lifts Maroon 5

May 22, 2007|Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff

In the music business, a five-year span can mean the difference between hair metal and grunge, grunge and teen pop, "With the Beatles!" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

The members of Maroon 5 should thank their lucky stars that no seismic shift occurred in the T op 40 during the half-decade between the release of their 2002 debut, "Songs About Jane," and their second album, "It Won't Be Soon Before Long," out today.

Or, more precisely, they should be expressing gratitude that it took several years and a succession of singles ("This Love," "She Will Be Loved") for the first album to truly break through. That slow burn allowed the Los Angeles quintet's brand of sweet soul-pop to linger on the airwaves, where it's been bolstered by the success of likeminded artists such as Justin Timberlake and Ne-Yo. The steady trickle of radio hits, the endless touring, frontman Adam Levine's high-profile endeavors with folks like Kanye West and Alicia Keys, and a 2005 Grammy for best new artist all keep the new disc from feeling tortured and long-incubating. Instead, it sounds like a surprisingly fresh continuation of the debut.

The band adheres to a "three P" principle for its 12 tracks: Prince, the Police, and pop melodies that instantly infiltrate your cerebral cortex.

While Stevie Wonder was a clear guidepost for "Jane," on "Soon" the Maroon boys look to a fellow fan of purple hues as their primary inspiration. A breezy, lite-funk pulse courses through much of the album, grounding Levine's reedy, seemingly effortless falsetto. Be it on the caffeinated, "Controversy"-style guitar chirps and keyboard blurts of opener "If I Never See Your Face Again"; the juicy erotic imagery of "Kiwi"; or the sexy, bluesy amble "Back at Your Door," which closes the album with a satisfied smile, the band members take their cues without being slavishly imitative.

The same can't be said on "Nothing Lasts Forever," which strangely echoes the tune of Janis Ian's coming-of-age tale "At Seventeen," and "Won't Go Home Without You," which, like its source material "Every Breath You Take," is based around a circular riff that starts out lulling and ends up plodding. Better are tough little hard-candy rockers -- "Wake Up Call," "Can't Stop" -- that pay more fully clothed homage to Sting and the gang.

The tunes, including the dance-club-baiting new single "Makes Me Wonder," are uniformly strong, and the playing and production neatly manicured, if a bit dense in places. But the lyrics are spotty at best. Levine sometimes confuses graphic with sensual and relies far too heavily on knee-jerk rhyme schemes and generic romantic scenarios. But mainstream pop music, although it can, doesn't necessarily need to scale artistic heights to be effective. Considering the polish, professionalism, and panache of "It Won't Be Soon," it won't be long before its tracks become the soundtrack to the summer of 2007.

Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com. For more on music, go to boston.com/ae/music/blog.