Since 1981's Arc of a Diver (his first solo album), Steve Winwood has polished and repolished his act to a glistening and increasingly heartless sheen. Compared to his weighty days in Traffic, Winwood's solo work has been mostly wafer-thin and unsatisfying. And while his records may have won him commercial laurels and earned him recognition as a quintessential "adult contemporary artist," for someone with such rich musical history, accolades from those quarters shouldn't be enough. Sadly, Junction 7, Winwood's first album since 1990's Refugees of the Heart, plunges the songwriter further into the pit of inconsequentiality. More than ever, the record reeks of superficial love, passion, and sex, so much so that it comes off sounding trite, even boring; this is certainly not the same guy who wrote the pleasantly oblique Arc of a Diver. The record kicks off hopefully with "Spy in the House of Love," a solid hunk of blue-eyed soul led by Winwood's signature pop vocals, some passionate back-up singing, and an aggressively rhythmic guitar motif. But things degenerate fast. Even though Winwood trades heavily on his warm trademark organ sound, the nondescript "Angel of Mercy" goes nowhere, as does the equally vacuous "Just Wanna Have Some Fun," Winwood's apparent tribute to Cyndi Lauper. Tropical horns buttress "Gotta Get Back to My Baby" with a little success, but tracks like "Real Love" and "Fill Me Up"--co-written with Winwood's wife, Eugenia--though nicely sentimental, are tin-can- empty musically. A decent work-up of Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair," starring Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers, and "Lord of the Street," with Winwood on acoustic piano, perk things up a bit, but the album still feels sterile and punchless--and not even close to being worth the seven-year wait. --Bob Gulla