In Square Circle (1985)

In Square Circle (1985)

1985’s In Square Circle sometimes gets a bad rap alongside most of Stevie Wonder’s ’80s output, because it’s too formulaic and polished. Fair critiques, as it is both of these things. But it has the added advantage of being a fantastic collection of mostly up-tempo love songs ranging from the swingingly kinky (“Part Time Lovers”) to the effervescently sexy (“I Love You Too Much”) to the depressively longing (“Go Home”) to the depressively lonely (“Stranger On The Shore Of Love”) with liberal dashes of the socially curious (“Spiritual Walkers”) and the socially conscious (It’s Wrong [Apartheid])” and padded by some more than serviceably agreeable filler. Seriously, it’s a lot of fun to listen to, and clearly emblematic of Wonder’s capacity to bring more to the dance even when he might be ostensibly mailing it in.