Signed, Sealed & Delivered

Any of the 12 songs on Stevie Wonder’s new album holds more creative singing than you’re likely to find in another performer’s entire body of work.

And while everything may not reach the energy level of the title song, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” there’s not a bad cut on the LP. One of the best is a version of Lennon-McCartney’s “We Can Work It Out,” which had a startling, brand-new vitality even on an early unmixed tape. In its finished state, it’s extraordinary. Stevie seems to accompany himself with a backing track of his own voice in a higher register, and uses both simultaneously to underline the deeper-voiced lead track and as prodding accent. As with the other cuts here, “We Can Work It Out” has a tasteful, unencumbered arrangement, in this case upbeat, driven along by drums and organ and Wonder on harmonica.

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Rolling Stone
Signed, Sealed and Delivered (1971)