Album Review: D'Angelo

MUSIC

D'Angelo

Voodoo

Virgin

It's hard to tell whether D'Angelo's got a winner on his hands with Voodoo, his sophomore effort. Hard to tell because while the album's come out overseas, the whole thing's not out in the United States yet, even to the media. Judging by the six-track press sampler, though, D'Angelo's reputation as the leader of the vanguard of nouveau soul is permanently cemented.

D'Angelo

Voodoo

Virgin

Back when he was 18, the self-taught pianist released Brown Sugar, a truly inspired disc that reawakened the ghost of Marvin Gaye in the name of good old-fashioned baby-let-me-put-you-on-a-pedestal-and-worship-you sensuality. Since then, a few heads, led by Maxwell, have emerged and stolen a good part of the spotlight from the angelic one's cornrowed head. Never fear though. D'Angelo has reclaimed center stage. Voodoo is thick with the same sensuality as Brown Sugar and doubly infused with bottomed-out, layered funk that recalls a smoke-filled Brooklyn bar or greasy Southern kitchen. Highlights include the funk-spiritual "Devil's Pie," "Left & Right" (a remarkable collaboration with Method Man and Redman) and "How Does It Feel," the video for which you have no doubt already seen on MTV or BET (it's the one with D'Angelo buck naked). If D'Angelo is guilty of anything in this album, it's knowing that his music is seductive. Fact of the matter though: it is. A