It's an indelicate question to ask: Does a new Stevie Wonder album really matter?
Wonder is a dignified and wildly talented musician who recorded albums in the 1970s of such sublime accomplishment that he became an almost holy figure in pop culture. But that was a long time ago, and, for a man of just 55, Wonder has found himself busy lately collecting lifetime achievement awards.
The man himself is eager to prove he is a figure of the present, and earlier this week that led to the staging of a fascinating event. Journalists from around the world gathered in a plush theater on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank and (after nearly two hours of cooling their heels) in walked the musician who has more Grammy trophies on his mantel than any other solo pop star.
After a quick apology -- a murmur about a vague "family emergency" -- Wonder took a seat and explained that he had come to play all 15 songs off of his upcoming album, "A Time 2 Love," and, in the silences between, he planned to tell the story of the songs. The approach is not entirely novel (Kanye West, for instance, staged a similar "listening party" with lecture not long ago), but the stature of Wonder and the fact that he has worked for a decade on this one project gave the session a type of intrigue that is uncommon for similar promotional exercises.
Wonder opened with a preamble: "It's been an ongoing project. It's something I started 10 years ago.... It's something that has come from life experiences. The joy. The pains. The moments of sorrow. The moments of happiness."
That type of earnest spirit elevated 1970s Wonder albums such as "Innervisions" and "Songs in the Key of Life" to magical heights. But then that approach also gave his later work an airy, New Age polish, and songs such as "I Just Called to Say I Love You" scored great chart success but were skewered by critics for being closer to Hallmark commercials than Hall of Fame material.
The new album is a mix of the "different" Stevie Wonders. "Passionate Raindrops" and "Can't Imagine Love Without You" fall in line with the sounds of his more polished recent hits. "Please Don't Hurt My Baby" is a sharp-edged groove about an infidelity that threatens to capsize a husband's home life, and if it sounds like a throwback to the smokestack rhythms of the old days, there's good reason.
