Music Review: John Legend, “Evolver” (G.O.O.D. Music/Columbia)

Rating: 51

Too breezy and disconnected for its own good, “Evolver” is the sound of John Legend betraying the musical promise he showed on “Get Lifted” and the substance he displays when talking politics with Bill Maher. Beginning with the Moog baubles backing him on the featherweight single “Green Light,” Legend flits from reggae-lite to sambas without elevating many of his tracks beyond supper-club soul.

Strange that Legend would choose to call the disc “Evolver,” since it only evinces stylistic and substantial growth in fleeting instances. “If You’re Out There,” the closing track, is a stirring, Peter Gabriel-like ballad that the singer premiered at the Democratic National Convention, and “I Love, You Love” is ingeniously built on a sample of Dire Straits’ “Tunnel of Love,” but much of “Evolver” feels disappointingly retrograde.

Sure, there’s the slick, Rodeo Drive R&B of “It’s Over,” featuring an auto-tuned vocal assist from Kanye West, or Gary Numan-like synth noodling on “Satisfaction” that could offer some mild diversions, but nothing as powerful as “Ordinary People” or even “Save Room” can be found. Just a few years ago, John Legend seemed destined to live up to his name, but “Evolver” is anything but legendary.