Urban music review: John Legend: Evolver

Despite the title, John Legend's third album finds him once again treading the line between soul and hip-hop with dexterity. There are plenty of highlights: Quickly, an urgent, aqueous duet with Brandy; No Other Love, on which Legend trades sweet everythings with Estelle over a relaxed reggae lope; Greenlight, whose skittery beats and swooning synths recall Kelis's 2004 hit, Millionaire (both, uncoincidentally, feature André 3000). If You're Out There, meanwhile, finds Legend plunging bodily into political waters (it is also available as a free download from Barack Obama's website). References to "change", "destiny" and "the future" abound; the arrival, midway through, of surging chorales is reassuringly inevitable, as are the crashing power chords. It is unbelievably corny, in a very special American kind of way, but don't be surprised if you too get swept up in its grandeur on November 4. As on Legend's previous two efforts, his balladry can tend towards the beige, and oatmeal slow jams such as Cross the Line prove unmemorable; but the innate warmth of Legend's voice mostly carries his material.