"Love in the Future" is John Legend's first solo album since 2008. Featuring the production work of Kanye West, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Q-Tip, Doc McKinney, the Runners, 88 Keys, Bink, and Hit-Boy, this Deluxe Version contains four additional tracks. The album is brimming with the work of five years put in by this R&B master songsmith, as well as several covers, including one of "Angel" by Anita Baker. Love in the Future is a fantastic album for old and new John Legend fans alike.

Given the sped-up classic soul samples with which Kanye West has made his mark, it comes as no surprise that the producer/rapper would pick a tradition-minded R&B singer as his first big pet project. Legend first made his name on Philly's incense-clouded, '70s-obsessed neo-soul scene, then found his way to New York and became West's right-hand man in the studio. His patron's pop smarts serve Legend well–while many contemporary R&B records rely too heavily on a singer's cadence and skill to carry underdeveloped tunes.

“These songs are about joy, hope, and resilience,” John Legend tells Apple Music. “The power of the human spirit.” His upbeat seventh album Bigger Love was largely recorded in 2019, before a pandemic and mass protests swept the globe, but its message is no less relevant or uplifting: Love wins.