Get Lifted

On his revelatory neo-soul debut, John Legend accompanies himself on piano and organ, delivering a passionate and throaty performance as the backing vocals swell with gospel fervour. Still, his songs are suffused with worldly temptation. He cheats on a lover over the organic soul of “She Don’t Have to Know", then apologises for his indiscretions on “I Can Change". “Ordinary People” finds him alone at a piano counting the ways men and women disappoint each other, but he uncovers new reasons to be hopeful in the end, singing, “Let’s just take it slow".