9 Grammy awards and numerous Billboard hits into his career,
John Legend released Love In The Future
on September 3rd, 2013.
Unlike many of his contemporaries such as Frank Ocean or newcomer
Miguel, John Legend takes a step backward toward the vintage with his latest
effort as he takes steps forward in his personal life. Recently engaged to
model Chrissy Teigen, it is obvious from what source Legend draws upon for
inspiration for his latest album. With
Love in the Future, a madly in love John Legend not only presents us with all
of his own feelings, but also reminds us that love has always and will always
be one of the supremest forces of human existence.
As the listener begins the journey through the 20-track love
saga, he or she is greeted by the sounds of a string quartet and musings of the
beginnings of a serious relationship between two lovers. Fittingly titled, “The Beginning” not only
samples classical sounds with more contemporary drum beats, but it reminds
listeners to keep their life and their important long-standing relationships
fresh and exciting. This message is
reiterated in the subsequent cover of Bobby Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes.” Love is elemental an ancient, as exhibited in
the production of the tribal “Made To Love,” but you have to find the person
and the things you love in your own way keep it vibrant and vital. In other tracks, Legend more subtly can be
heard drawing upon influences such as Lionel Richie and Whitney Houston is
tracks like “Hold On Longer” and “Wanna Be Loved” (reminiscent of “Easy [Like
Sunday Morning]” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?”). The supreme message that has inspired so many
others hasn’t changed, but those that are in love change and so does the
world’s view on the subject. We need to
discover our own love and our own way of showing it.
Legend not only shows us a glimpse into the past and love’s
place in history, but in his own personal life.
For the first time, he puts not just one, but three wedding
reception-worthy songs into the mix with “All of Me,” “For the First Time,” and
“Dreams,” which sounds like Legend’s version of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed.” Not since “Ordinary People” has he produced a
song that featured nothing but his sultry voice and piano accompaniment (which
song, we might add, was not the definition of “love ballad”). The haunting vocals on these tracks ooze
infatuation and can haunt any listener in love.
He isn’t just giving his all to his true love, but he’s bearing all of
his feelings to the listener as well.
Unlike his past flirtatious, playful, and even braggadocios
songs such as “Alright,” “She Don’t Have to Know,” and “Number One,” Legend is
fully committed to his songwriting and his personal love endeavors. In the past, he sang “You can’t say I don’t
love you just because I cheat on you,” but now he croons “Out of all of the
girls, you’re my one and only girl/Ain’t nobody in the world tonight” in the
appropriately titled “You and I (Nobody In the World).” There’s only one person on Legend’s mind
these days. There are no more public
escapades with new women, no displays of bravado or machismo in the club. In fact, he would rather ditch all of that
and spend the night at home with his special someone according to “Save the
Night.”
Legend has always been an expert at blending the classic
with the modern and making them his own, but Legend doesn’t cling to what
others have said about the most important of feelings. There are plenty of original and modern
elements in the songwriting and production, befitting of the album’s title, such
as “Asylum” and “Caught Up,” which not only illustrate the companionship found
in love, but also the fact that in it we can find healing, happiness,
understanding, and even an escape from the mundane, monotonous, and maddening. Love can be a powerful aphrodisiac.
As the artist takes us on this journey, he shows us the
beginning stages of love and moves us through its different phases: the first intense feelings of attraction, the
first pleas for companionship, the first stages of discovery and intimacy, the
continuation of this excitement and the thrill of feeling it repeatedly, and
then he discusses the subsequent frustration of temporary separation, the
realization that you’ve found that one special someone that keeps you
committed, that you’ve found what all the artists of the world have written and
sung about – the yin to your yang, the one person who understands you and knows
you inside out, the one that occupies your dreams and your heart, your one true
love.
To some, these thoughts and feelings might seem
old-fashioned or cliché, but as Legend explains on the closing track “For the
First Time,” when you feel the kinds of feelings that he feels, it all seems
brand new. This isn’t the first time
that we’ve heard a similar message from other artists, but John Legend’s
refreshing and moving effort reminds the listener just how supreme that message
is.
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