What a difference seven years, three record labels and four members makes. Scritti Politti's 1978 DIY debut, "Skank Bloc Bologna," was the work of brainy Britpunks sculpting raw thrash into their own twisted avant-pop shapes. On Cupid & Psyche 85, only singer/songwriter Green Strohmeyer-Gartside remains from the original trio, along with his breathy helium-squeak tenor and abstract word games ("When the words are vodka clear forgetfulness has brought us near," from "Absolute"). With new keyboard player David Gamson and drummer Fred Maher (who has played with Material and Lou Reed), Garside is now testing the malleability of slick conventional dance music, toying with altered states of funk without contradicting the logic of a good groove.

Last year's single "Wood Beez," included here, neatly summarizes the Scritti approach. Periodic eruptions of Arthur Baker-remix-style percussion and fat brassy keyboards compound the beat while guitars ping-pong between hyperactive clucking and bright chiming chords. Together with the angelic mix of Green's own soft nasal pleading and the muted coo of his background singers, the result is at once lush and eccentric, an unlikely marriage of pop science and soothing love-funk. "Absolute," another recent single, is more straightforward rhythmically but cools you off with sudden downpours of raindrop synths.

Unfortunately, the rest of Cupid & Psyche 85 isn't deviant enough. Green has absorbed the lessons of dance masters like Arif Mardin (who produced three tracks here, including "Wood Beez" and "Absolute") so well that he often imitates the very formulas he seeks to undermine. Dominated by the false luxury of Gamson's cream-whip keyboards, Scritti productions like the tiptoe ballad "A Little Knowledge" and the belabored funkup "Hypnotize" lack the engaging delicacy of the "The Word Girl" or the quiet schizo tension of the Mardin-produced singles. Stylishly wrought, at times delightfully eccentric, Cupid & Psyche 85 is ultimately too true to its form to be genuinely subversive. Next time, how about a more gritty Politti? (RS 457)

DAVID FRICKE