Ever Pop-Crafty, Maroon 5 Woos Another Winner

The Maroon 5 frontman knows his fan base. (By Bryan Bedder -- Getty Images)

Oh, how the ladies love Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine! And oh, how the feeling appears to be mutual.

Levine specializes in hyper-catchy songs about the other sex, be they steamy come-ons or biting kiss-offs or self-pitying numbers about having been eighty-sixed. They pretty much account for Maroon 5's entire oeuvre, which spans two studio albums: 2002's "Songs About Jane" and the new "It Won't Be Soon Before Long," which easily could have been called "Songs About Jessica, Etc." The singer's list of (alleged) conquests and onetime canoodling interests resembles an Us Weekly all-star team, including Jessicas Simpson and Biel, along with Lindsay Lohan, Maria Sharapova and Kirsten Dunst.

Talk about living the rock-and-roll lifestyle, which Levine seems to have done at the highest level since "Songs About Jane" became a breakout hit. All told, the album has sold 4 million copies stateside and earned Maroon 5 two Grammys, including one in 2005 for best new artist. (Never mind that the Los Angeles band's debut was three years prior.)

In some ways, Levine seems to embody the guys-want-to-be-him/girls-want-to-be- with-him sex-symbol ideal -- assuming guys want a singing voice that suggests they've taken a combat boot to the crotch: Levine has a pinched, soulful falsetto that's roughly in the same tonal range as that guy from Jamiroquai.

That voice is the most polarizing aspect of Maroon 5's stylized sound, and if you have a negative visceral reaction to it (ahem), you might consider throwing away your radio because "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" sounds like a blockbuster. It's a smartly crafted (emphasis on craft), format-jumping juggernaut-in-waiting on which the possible hits just keep on coming. They're assured and accessible and wholly tuneful soul-pop songs -- a dozen in all -- with monster hooks to spare.

"It Won't Be Soon's" first single, "Makes Me Wonder," is already one of the more ubiquitous songs of the spring. A No. 1 Billboard hit, it's a breezy disco tune on which Levine sings goodbye to a girl. And from there, spin the stylistic wheel and watch Maroon 5 slide effortlessly between genres and artistic touchstones.

"Kiwi" is a panting, Prince-style funk workout on which Levine sings lasciviously (and somewhat lamely) about a sweet human treat. "Better That We Break" is the sort of piano ballad that might make James Blunt shed tears of joy.

Levine's vocal phrasing on "Nothing Lasts Forever" is straight-up Stevie Wonder, and the arpeggiated guitar pattern on "Won't Go Home Without You" is straight out of the Police songbook -- specifically, "Every Breath You Take."

There's also '80s-style synth-pop ("If I Never See Your Face Again") and a Coldplay moment in "Goodnight Goodnight," the album's most caustic song, what with Levine noting: "You make me think of someone wonderful, but I can't place her."

"Little of Your Time" even makes a nod to hip-hop, as its rhythmic kick and melody recall OutKast's "Hey Ya!" (There are shades of Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" in the song, too.)

With so much pleasing variety, it's almost as if Maroon 5 collaborated with a focus group during the writing and recording process. That would certainly help explain why it took so long for the album to arrive.

But really, there's something a little too precious -- too perfect -- about "It Won't Be Soon Before Long." The slick songs are so perfectly tuneful, with perfect hooks and perfect production values and so forth, that the album sounds as though it were created in a science lab, or maybe a computer lab, where it was ProToolsed to within an inch of its life.

Of course, one person's pop-music nightmare is another's Best Album Ever!, especially when its principal creator is as California-dreamy as Adam Levine. He's all yours, girls.

DOWNLOAD THESE: "Goodnight Goodnight," "Won't Go Home Without You," "Makes Me Wonder"