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The first Doctrine of Love preview made it known that Jalen Ngonda's vintage aesthetic would not be shifting forward from the early-'70s echoes of Come Around and Love Me. "Anyone in Love," a graceful ballad in which Ngonda philosophizes with a knowing ache in his slightly scratchy tenor vocal, actually turned the clock further backward by evoking the Delfonics singing Bacharach-David -- though it must be said that Ngonda gives off a moonlighting factory-worker vibe that contrasts with William Hart's dandyish elocution. It's probably no coincidence that the Delfonics covered Bacharach-David on an album released in 1968, the year cited by Ngonda as the inspiration for this follow-up. Doctrine of Love sees the singer tighten his bond with Michael Buckley and Vincent Chiarito, sympathetic producers and co-writers who again outfit him with sophisticated backing. There's the same flexible rhythm section, a mostly identical quartet of background singers, ample strings, and some horns. It's all kept concise, never approaching the scope or headiness of a Norman Whitfield or Charles Stepney production. "Anyone in Love" sets the tone for a first half where Ngonda dispenses a lot of wisdom and a little admonition, as on "Burning Temptation," featuring a rolling neo-Motown groove that pulls back just in time for him to wail, "You're gonna wake up and need somebody." While the regretful uptempo yearner "Mr. Train Conductor" and the forlorn "Love Is Gone" are also on side one, the second half is more personal, generally more impassioned and conflicted. In "I Can't Ever Leave You," a bluesy number containing the album's best use of the horns, Ngonda switches from belting to crooning in one short line, "You treat me like a dog does a shoe," with rare poise and nuance. "Hannah, What's the Matter?" sees him a decade into a relationship with a dissatisfied partner, hinting that they can get away in their "long white Cadillac" (more likely a Fleetwood than an Escalade). After a couple beaming numbers that are all about devotion, Ngonda finishes with a distressed ballad of acceptance, "Taken Out of the Picture," a showcase for his upper register. The emotion he puts into the end of "You never wanted me" is powerful enough make an empath tremble.

A1        Anyone In Love
A2        Doctrine Of Love
A3        Mr. Train Conductor
A4        Burning Temptation
A5        Love Is Gone
B1        I Can’t Ever Leave You
B2        Hannah, What’s the Matter?
B3        Good Good Love
B4        Hang It On The Shelf
B5        Taken Out Of The Picture