John Legend stopped by Rolling Stone a couple hours ago for lunch and to play us some new tracks from his upcoming album, due out this October. Of course, we wanted to hear his Stevie Wonder stories: he says Stevie is always giving people gifts (Legend’s favorite was a digital audio recorder) and sharing his special secret potions for preserving his voice, one of which made Legend feel a little ill.
The real thrill was Legend’s new album, which is going to surprise people in a good way. He hasn’t given up the piano-based mellow soul of 2004’s Get Lifted, but alongside those kind of songs are tracks that run the gamut from Sixties AM radio-pop to Jeff Buckley-inspired coolness. It features production from Will.I.Am, Kanye West (of course), Craig Street and Legend himself.