いまや現代の「ソウル・レジェンド」たる貫禄も放つ、グラミー賞10冠に輝くシンガー・ソングライター=ジョン・レジェンドの3年ぶり5作目。幕開けを飾る厳かなスロウ"I Know Better"や、これまでのピアノ弾き語り的な曲調とは一味違う壮麗な"Love Me Now"をはじめ、モノトーンのジャケットのごとくシンプルだけど陰影と味わいの深い楽曲が並ぶ。聴きごたえある快作!!

タワーレコード （2016/12/06）

グラミー賞10冠に輝くシンガー・ソングライター=ジョン・レジェンド、約3年ぶり、通算5作目となる待望のニュー・アルバム
グラミー賞10冠に輝くシンガー・ソングライター=ジョン・レジェンドの、2013年発表の前作『ラブ・イン・ザ・フューチャー』に続く、約3年ぶり、通算5作目となる待望のニュー・アルバム『ダークネス・アンド・ライト』。前作からの大ヒットシングルにして究極のラヴ・ソング「オール・オブ・ミー」は、当時10週連続全米1位を記録し難攻不落と言われたファレル・ウィリアムスの「ハッピー」に替わり1位の座を獲得したことでも大きな話題に。そして2016年には、映画『グローリー/明日への行進』のコモンとの共演主題歌でアカデミー賞及びグラミー賞で主題歌賞を受賞するなどして、幅広い層から熱い支持を受けている。新作から一足先に公開された新曲「ラヴ・ミー・ナウ」では、共作者兼プロデューサーに新鋭ブレイク・ミルズを起用。前作までのピアノ弾き語りの曲調と一味違う、バンドとストリングスのサウンドをベースにした壮麗なトラックと、ジョン・レジェンドのソウル溢れる甘美なヴォーカルが絶妙に響き合う、まさに大人のラヴ・ソング。2016年に生まれた娘に捧げる曲も収録されるこの新作にはミゲル、チャンス・ザ・ラッパー、アラバマ・シェイクスのブリタニー・ハワードが参加している。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2016/11/04）

Entertainment Weekly - "Legend is mostly in his soulful comfort zone. 'Darkness and Light' is a fiery duet with Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard, backed by blues-guitar flourishes and gospel-y washes of Hammond organ." -- Grade: B+ Pitchfork - "Legend pushes beyond his comfort zone for something a bit more ambitious.....With its meditative and ingratiating songwriting, this is unmistakably a John Legend album, yet there's a renewed sense of peace and even a sad wisdom that distinguishes it."

Rovi

DARKNESS AND LIGHT is the fifth album from John Legend -- the singer, songwriter, and pianist's first full-length since 2013, when he released the gold Top Five hit Love in the Future. The set features "Love Me Now," a romantic anthem written with Blake Mills (Alabama Shakes, Dawes) and John Ryan (Pitbull's "Fireball"), as well as "Penthouse Floor," a sinewy gospel- and funk-tinged number featuring Chance the Rapper. Miguel and Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard are among the album's other guest artists.|

Rovi

Unlike John Legend's first four proper studio albums, this one, his fifth, was produced almost entirely by one person. Floored by Alabama Shakes' Sound & Color, Legend -- coming off his first number one pop hit and an Academy Award -- recruited Blake Mills, that album's chief collaborator. Mills, who also plays several instruments and co-writes almost every song, responds in kind here with a similarly vivid touch. Even at its most processed, the album sounds handwrought, a fully evolved synthesis of gospel, folk, rhythm & blues, and adult pop. Legend's supporting cast of songwriters, an unconventional mix of commercial pop and underground figures that widely ranges from John Ryan to Will Oldham, is completely different to that of 2013's Love in the Future. The bulk of the songs are thematically similar nonetheless, with the embrace of an intense and long-term partnership -- up against "all that shit from the outside" -- at the center. A little more personal and societal context is drawn here. It starts with "I Know Better," a ballad led by Larry Goldings' Hammond organ and piano, where Legend enters in almost startling fashion with "They say sing what you know, but I've sung what they want." He renounces vanity, then beams "My history has brought me to this place/There's power in the color of my face." After the elegant funk-soul number "Penthouse Floor," a triumphantly escapist number enhanced by Chance the Rapper, the content switches to more personal matters. A one-night stand ("Temporary Painless"), the rejection of anxieties to seize commitment ("Surefire"), love after war ("What You Do to Me"), and life under a microscope ("Overload") are among the subjects. There's also a moving ballad, featuring tenor sax from Kamasi Washington, addressed to Legend's daughter. In addition to Legend's laser focus and Mills' presence, the album is tied together by the supreme rhythm section of Pino Palladino and Chris "Daddy" Dave. Each track has its own kind of burning intensity. The album's front, back, and inner photos are in black-and-white, but the music evokes rich shades of yellow, orange, and red. ~ Andy Kellman

Rovi