*** Curtis Mayfield

NEW WORLD ORDER

(Warner Brothers)

Several years after the stage accident that left him mostly paralyzed, Mayfield presents the same gently militant church falsetto that once fueled the Impressions. Without a trace of irony or cynicism, he sings of personal honesty and the need in each of us to return to the basic facts of life. In the black-consciousness message of "New World Order," Mayfield writes, "the sleeping giant is no longer sleeping dead." And sings it, quietly with a soft snarl, as he has always sung the symbolic raised fist. The tone continues in "Back to Living Again," with its "Now is always the right time" statement of purpose, and "I Believe in You," a song in which Mayfield predicates his belief in you on his readiness to believe in himself.

Honor and confidence, in his soaring music, overcome even blues songs like "We People Who Are Darker Than Blue," "Here But I'm Gone," and "Ms. Martha." Unlike Babyface's overreach for the ideal or Keith Sweat's celebration of tumescence, Mayfield's "Just a Little Bit of Love" and "The Girl I Find Stays on My Mind" do exactly what "Woman Got Soul" did 30 years ago: equate love and pride, respect and passion. All of which pretty well defines the term "soul."

-- Michael Freedberg