After several albums of funk-fusion flash, Level 42 harnessed its considerable instrumental ability on World Machine, as sleek and agreeable a digital-era pop record as anything by Lionel Richie or Steve Winwood. On Running in the Family, the British quartet goes further in targeting the CD audience with an album of songs about the small problems of middle-class adulthood.

Mark King is best known for his superb bass playing, but he's also a convincingly soulful singer, as long as he stays within a few comfortable keys; that may explain why "Lessons in Love" sounds so much like "Something About You," the band's Top Five hit from last year. "Children Say" is another retooling of World Machine, with keyboardist Mark Lindup adding a falsetto chorus, as he did often on that LP.

Unlike the vaguely topical World Machine, Running in the Family includes a lyric sheet, which reveals a few simple themes: the regretful wisdom that comes after romantic disaster ("Lessons in Love," "To Be with You Again," "Two Solitudes") and the emotional distance between generations ("Running in the Family," "Children Say"). King can stack oddly metered stanzas into graceful, arresting melodic structures, and except for "Fashion Fever," a shallow depiction of trendiness, it's clear that the tribulations he sings about are important – if not quite crucial – to him. Like other young professionals, the members of Level 42 understand that emotional and technical steadiness is a key to success. Running in the Family artfully hugs the median of contemporary pop. (RS 502)

ROB TANNENBAUM