Signed, Sealed & Delivered (1970)

Signed, Sealed & Delivered (1970)

Reasonable people can disagree as to where Wonder’s genius auteur period truly begins, but one interpretation of his emancipation from Motown’s restrictive protocols can plausibly be centered around 1970’s Signed, Sealed & Delivered, which both deepens his love of soul and electric funk and also makes plain his fascination with diverse outside influences signified by his wildly effervescent take on The Beatles “We Can Work It Out.” The stunning title track is the obvious first attraction here- a masterful piece of effervescent soul-witnessing that one only wishes Otis Redding had lived long enough to cover. Elsewhere, the soaring “Heaven Help Us” testifies on behalf of those amongst us who have the least, and the considerably less spiritually minded “You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover” addresses Wonder’s more lascivious impulses. Throughout, Signed, Sealed & Delivered is a hard-headed, frequently gorgeous deep dive into the metaphysical, sexual and religious. This is musical terrain familiar to a very few others — only Prince, Madonna and Van Morrison come immediately to mind. Regardless, this is exhilarating stuff, and astonishingly, the real excitement is yet to come.