Van Hunt, 29, is at his best when he's dropping sexy vocals over salacious beats, as he does on "Being a Girl," "Hole in my Heart" and "If I Take You Home (Upon …)," whose hook is delivered by Hunt's female backup singers: "If I take you home / Will you respect me in the morning?" It's an easy question for any man to answer, and Van Hunt is no exception. Elsewhere, using his sleek falsetto, Hunt fights off a seductress on "Hot Stage Lights": "I took a seat right by the door / With my hand on my gun / Determined to keep my clothes on."

The best moments from "On the Jungle Floor" find Van Hunt pimping tempting melodies and decidedly '70s arrangements. A blanket of strings punctuates the funky "Character," a song so good it reveals a deep link to Isaac Hayes and Stevie Wonder.

A talented songwriter, Van Hunt has the chops--and the ability--to go from an epic piano ballad like "Daredevil Baby" into something that looks and sounds like a lost Lenny Kravitz track, "Ride, Ride, Ride." But his music can also become formulaic. On "Suspicion (She Knows Me Too Well)," Hunt's woman suspects he's cheating, and it's her certainty that leads the singer down familiar territory, "Is it suspicion / Or just woman's intuition? / I can't tell / But it takes one to know one / And she knows me too well." When he stretches into New Wave territory, as on "At the End of a Slow Dance," Hunt's vocals lose their appeal and the music itself loses its allure.

Regardless, "On the Jungle Floor" has too many golden moments. It's at its best and most seductive when Van Hunt aches with desire and apprehension. Luckily, that's most of the time.