After a two-year silence, GIVĒON ’s voice feels even more haunting — and more necessary. On Beloved, his long-awaited sophomore album, the R&B singer reemerges with a collection that’s sweeping, cinematic, and steeped in vulnerability. The 14-track record, executive-produced by Sevn Thomas, leans into orchestral textures and old soul influences, but it never sounds like nostalgia. Instead, it feels like evolution.
GIVĒON’s unmistakable baritone has always stood out in a sea of filtered falsettos, but here it serves as the emotional core of an album that grapples with regret, heartbreak, and the ache of growth. From the plaintive lead single “Twenties” — a meditation on love’s impermanence — to the slow-burning standout “Rather Be,” Beloved isn’t just a breakup album. It’s a reckoning.
The new single “I Can Tell,” released alongside a sleek visual, showcases his knack for restraint. Instead of oversinging, he lets the emptiness breathe. “This story perfectly encapsulates the experience of investing your most precious years into love,” he said of “Twenties,” and that thread runs through the album like a scar.
There’s richness here—not just in the arrangements, which reference everything from Philly soul to Blaxploitation-era soundtracks, but in the songwriting. Tracks like “Numb,” “Bleeding,” and “Don’t Leave” strip things down to their emotional core without ever feeling overwrought. Even the interlude, “Diamonds For Your Pain,” hits like a gospel sermon whispered through a film score.
What’s most striking is how Beloved never chases trends. It’s patient, textured, and proudly out of step with the current R&B landscape. This isn’t an algorithm-ready collection of hooks — it’s a record built to be lived with. And after years of hearing GIVĒON’s voice sampled, featured, or remixed, it’s a gift to hear it in full focus again.
