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Returning after a five year solo hiatus, following his 2008 release Evolver, John Legend comes forth with the soulfully delectable Love In The Future. Filled with slick hip hop inspired ballads and emotionally touching sing-a-longs, Legend has returned to doing what he does best, which is carving matters of the heart and soul in to the minds of the consumer.
As one of the most prominent voices of the new millennium, Legend originally earned his stripes as Kanye West’s backing pianist. Breaking away from Mr. West’s training wheels upon releasing his Grammy Award-winning debut Get Lifted in 2004, his obvious talent hasn’t stopped flourishing ever since.
After kickstarting Love In The Future with a floating acoustic introduction, tracks such as 'The Beginning', 'Made To Love', and 'Save The Night' explore Legend’s unprecedented songwriting prowess, which are topped off beautifully with his strong heartfelt vocal capabilities. Serenading listeners throughout with his charismatic chat up lines, whilst simple and to the point, the Doc McKinney and Ali Shaheed Muhammad [of A Tribe Called Quest] produced 'Wanna Be Loved' hears a man stripped to his bare bones confessing his desire to be loved.
Continuing with the charm, “Who Do We Think We Are', which samples both Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff” and Marvin Gaye’s 'If I Should Die Tonight', sees Legend add a verse from rap heavyweight Rick Ross. Thanks to his ballerific tales of high class living, which features some fine wine and dining and Tom Ford fashion tips, and Legend’s stadium ready chorus, this could be the year’s R&B concert sing-a-long smash.
Listen to 'Who Do We Think We Are' below
Upping the ante even more, 'So Gone' is simply stunning. Singing, "I had a dream like Dr. King/ I had a song I had to sing/ And I knew it wasn’t make believe," the Songwriters Hall of Fame Starlight Award-winning singer embraces with open arms, and lungs, the saying, “If you dream it, you can achieve it.” Admitting he always knew he was going to leave his hometown for bigger and brighter things, the song, and its delicate Motown-esque soundscape, serves as a musical recognition of achievement. Comparatively, fans of early Otis Redding will find it very satisfying.
Kanye West stamps his mark on a few of the album’s cuts, but none more so than the Bobby Caldwell cover 'Open Your Eyes'. With the help of Darhyl Camper, Dave Tozer, and Boogz, West laces the track with an uptempo drum loop and mid-tempo piano riff (evident on the original), that fans of rap might remember due to an instrumental similarity that Common used on his hit “The Light”. As far as covers go, it’s not the best but it’s not the worse either. The non-compelling ad-lib guitars thrown in at the end seem a tad bit unnecessary and in all honesty ruin the smoothness the track introduces initially.
As one of the millennium's finest song writing talents, there’s never a doubt in John Legend’s creative abilities. His material is always at a level not too many people can compete with, and Love In The Future is a shining example of this. A stellar effort that should have longevity with songwriting fans and R&B aficionados, the only downside is that with no obvious single jumping out at a listener, will it spark the interest of the more commercial listener?
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