on the song "Don't Fall In Love," from R&B trio Tony Toni Toné's new album "House of Music," lead singer D'Wayne Wiggins asks: "Have you ever fell in love with a woman, that wasn't a woman?" Repeated listenings reveal that the song is not a clever R&B take on the Kinks' "Lola," but a complaint about females who fool the Tonys into thinking they're women, but break just like little girls. Even though "House of Music" is the Tonys' fourth album, sophomoric themes such as these obscure any musical maturing they may have done.

When Tony Toni Toné debuted in 1988 with "Who?," which featured the single "Little Walter," an update of the gospel standard "Wade in the Water," their future held great promise. Though their sound was youthful and exuberant, with irreverent and often zany lyrics, the band revealed a musical complexity that distinguished them from other R&B acts like Boys II Men and Guy. With the successful follow-up "The Revival," Tony Toni Toné defined themselves as more mature and forward-thinking than their R&B contemporaries, but softer and more accessible than Prince or Seal. Their third album, "Sons of Soul," did even better, winning the group accolades from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. All signs seemed to indicate that their music would continue to grow, and their lyrics would gain depth and perspective. Instead, on "House of Music," the boys have gotten serious, but they haven't gotten wise. Where before their lyrics were fun, now they're just plain laughable.

Part of the problem with "House of Music" is that it is almost entirely devoted to ballads — long, slow, emotional numbers with muted beats that force the listener to hear every excruciating word. On "Thinking of You," D'Wayne croons, in all seriousness, that he's gonna call "America's Most Wanted," "cause you're most wanted by me." "Party Don't Cry" consists entirely of D'Wayne repeating "Everyone wants to live, nobody wants to die/if I should pass away, party, don't cry" for more than six minutes while the other Tonys softly chant "Don't cry, dry your eyes!" in such an embarrassingly affirmative way that it makes me wonder if their last name isn't Robbins.

Cute as the Tonys are, lyrics like these don't exactly make me want to hit the hardwood. Which is unfortunate, because sans lyrics the music itself isn't bad. The Tonys opt for a slightly retro R&B sound with live instruments, including flute, horns and violin, and the melodies are sweet and affecting. The most successful song is the under-two-minute instrumental "Loving You" (a longer version, with lyrics, also appears on the album.) Without the unbearable lyrics and cut down to a manageable length, "Loving You" suggests an intimacy and romance the rest of the album lacks. On "Tossin' N' Turnin'," the Tonys sing, "If love could talk, I think it would sound like this..." In fact, the Tonys would be far more eloquent if they would just shut up.

— Jennie Yabroff

Jennie Yabroff is a San Francisco-based journalist.