Beloved: Act II

LA出身のR&Bシンガー・ソング・ライター=GIVEON(ギヴィオン)
グラミー賞最優秀R&Bアルバム賞にノミネートされた 2ndアルバムのデラックス盤『BELOVED: ACT II』

8度のグラミー賞ノミネート歴を誇るLA出身のR&Bシンガー・ソング・ライター=GIVEON(ギヴィオン)。グラミー賞最優秀R&Bアルバム賞にノミネートされた、セカンドアルバム『BELOVED』の14曲に、5曲の未発表曲を追加収録したデラックス盤『BELOVED: ACT II』。内省的な歌詞と、独特のバリトン・ヴォイスをより深く堪能できる作品だ。
また、1月に行われた初となる単独来日公演も大盛況のうちに終了し、コーチェラ・フェスティバル2026でも見事なパフォーマンスを披露したことも記憶も新しい。
本作『BELOVED: ACT II』の、音楽の常識を覆す豊かで、没入感のあるサウンドは、ギヴィオンを現代のアイコンとしての地位を確固たるものにしている。

Giveon spent three years making Beloved, or half the amount of time he laments squandering on a failed romance in "Twenties." Adorned with strings, horns, and Jeff "Gitty" Gitelmans weeping sitar, the ballad set the albums tone, both lyrically and sonically, as the lead single. Beloved is filled with many other dramatic, tear-stained expressions of regret, frustration, and heartache. Although it isnt an out-and-out throwback, it draws substantially from the 70s, most evidently the grand sweep of Philly soul and the driving rhythms and punching horns of Memphis Hi Records, less so from maestros such as Barry White and Isaac Hayes. This isnt play-acting with a wholesale stylistic makeover. On the contrary, the likes of Sevn Thomas, Jahaan Sweet, and Maneesh Bidaye remain part of Giveons songwriting and production cohort, and though the lyrics are sometimes general, more often they seem as specific to Giveon as his deep and graceful baritone. "Thought I was learning myself, I was just learning you/Is anything black and white when youre barely 22?," from "Twenties," sums up the sense of slight disorientation and philosophical reasoning that fuels the album. The imagery is most vivid when Giveon is either laying himself bare or articulating suspicion. In the very Memphian "Rather Be," he can barely entertain the thought of starting over as he clings to the past, "dancing to all the songs that you love, all alone -- lost in the dark cause you stole the sun." He works himself into a lather on "Backup Plan," what plays out like a smudged, extended, and downcast coda to Isaac Hayes version of "The Look of Love," sensing emotional distance from his woman as evidence that his replacement is waiting in the wings. Only one song, the penultimate "Avalanche," captures a moment before it went sour. Even in that bright moment, the mix is dense with a hint of looming threat, enticing like an approaching storm. Giveon might view his six-year relationship as misspent, but theres no second-guessing the time he devoted to converting it into art. ~ Andy Kellman