'In Time' is the sort of album that one might initially dismiss as merely "pretty." That's unfortunate, because while this record's virtues are delicate, their eventual impact is powerful and lasting.

View from the Hill is a vocal trio from England that consists of Angela Wynter, Patrick Patterson, who plays guitar and keyboards, and Trevor White, who plays bass. Patterson is the main writer – he penned seven of the eight tunes on In Time – and his songs are soulful, intriguingly structured and emotionally insightful. Catchy pop melodies are elongated until their development becomes almost hypnotic, and Motown-style hooks are understated, so that their appeal is more subliminal than immediate. Patterson's stories – about love and how public events transform even the most private lives – unfold gradually and subtly. But when the choruses and bridges come and these three voices rise, In Time's aural seductiveness is impossible to resist.

Patterson handles the lead vocals on the album's two strongest tracks, "No Conversation" and "I'm No Rebel," which were produced by Stewart Levine (Culture Club, Simply Red). "No Conversation," an elegant ballad about a straying lover seeking to return, effortlessly turns a triple pun to underscore the intermingling of grief, guilt and hope: "Hearing foolish words and love songs/Cast my mind back to just how/How I fooled around and lost you/I'm not fooling now."

The moving "I'm No Rebel" is about "an ordinary man" who is eager to remain within the confines of his family but is pressured into rebellion and exile by police harassment. "I'm no rebel, I'm no rebel," he cries, but then adds, "Pushed to the limit/I have to fight back." By shading sexual adventures with regret and political action with reluctance, both songs upset easy pop expectations. They transcend the obvious and, in their artistry, mirror the complexities of life.

The rest of the album uses a variety of producers but remains consistent both in sound and theme. "Stay and Let Me Love You" and "Desperately," both sung by Wynter in a style reminiscent of a warmer, more expressive Sade, are portraits of painful love affairs. Without preaching, "Boys in Blue" tells of young men lured by romantic notions into the armed forces, while the jaunty "On the Corner" depicts the equally troubling alternative to national service that is offered to the poor: a dangerous life on crime-ridden streets.

"Turn Out the Light," a stirring duet by Wynter and White, is In Time's most straightforwardly positive song. It closes the album with two lovers embracing in bed, about to make love and spend the night together. The song helps counterbalance the dark subjects that came before, and it suggests a possible thread of meaning in the album's title.

In Time doubtless refers to the steady musicality of View from the Hill's spare, stately arrangements. But the optimism of "Turn Out the Light" also implies that happy endings, while not always apparent, often come in time. It's an apt image for an album that holds enduring pleasures for listeners patient enough to let them emerge. (RS 521)

ANTHONY DECURTIS