Album Info

BELOVED

By GIVĒON

R&B/Soul - 2025

GIVĒON has been working on his craft these past few years, and the fruits of his labor are resplendent on... more

Tracklist

1

MUD

2:13 min
2

RATHER BE

2:51 min
3

TWENTIES

2:51 min
4

STRANGERS

3:33 min
5

NUMB

3:18 min
6

I CAN TELL

3:15 min
7

DIAMONDS FOR YOUR PAIN

1:28 min
8

KEEPER

3:42 min
9

SIX:THIRTY

0:32 min
10

BACKUP PLAN

3:10 min
11

BLEEDING

2:57 min
12

DON'T LEAVE

3:28 min
13

AVALANCHE

2:30 min
14

GOOD BAD UGLY

3:08 min

About BELOVED

GIVĒON has been working on his craft these past few years, and the fruits of his labor are resplendent on BELOVED, a love letter to R&B that has the timeless feel of ’70s soul sides while possessing a distinctly 21st-century sensibility. “There’s that element where I’m doing this because it’s in my DNA,” GIVĒON tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “I didn’t choose music. I tell people all the time, ‘I didn’t choose it. It chose me.’ But I care about rhythm and blues. It means a lot to me.” BELOVED starts off in a big way: Surging strings create a high-drama atmosphere that sets the mood for “MUD,” a poison-pen letter to an ex that’s given a cushion by GIVĒON's supple croon and the sonic splendor surrounding it. Not only does the song send a message to the person who did GIVĒON wrong, it lets listeners know that the singer-songwriter has leveled up in the years since his last album, 2022’s Give or Take. “I think I grew as an artist exponentially,” he says. “There’s a leap in my knowing how to articulate what I feel, or what I have a taste for.” On BELOVED, GIVĒON showcases his evolution in a way that’s dazzling without being showy—the longing “I CAN TELL” frames his vulnerable vocals in rhythmic snaps and dry horns, while on the slow-burning “KEEPER” he fully throws himself into his plea to a lover he’s missing. Much of BELOVED came out of GIVĒON and his collaborators jamming in the studio, and its grooves possess the sort of loose yet locked-in feel that characterizes the most sublime soul. Despite growing up in Southern California, GIVĒON was raised on East Coast R&B, and he studied records by the likes of Teddy Pendergrass, as well as the productions of Philadelphia soul architects Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, to get properly inspired for BELOVED. He also got better at fully tuning in to his artistic desires and curiosity. “I know what artist I am,” he says. “I understand my process. I understand how to evolve as well.”