John Legend on Inspiration, Prince, and His New Album of Lullabies, ‘My Favourite Dream’

Having Sufjan Stevens produce the album was an impressed selection; he’s an artist with such a singular popularity. How did you join with him?

I hadn’t identified him personally, however knew his music for the previous 20 years and have been listening all that point. After I was dreaming of what I wished these songs to sound like as I used to be writing them, he was my first selection. I instructed my supervisor about it, although I didn’t assume we’d be capable of pull it off. However I stated, “Let’s strive!” We organized a time for us to FaceTime to speak about it. He’s based mostly within the Catskills and I’m based mostly in Los Angeles, so I despatched him the tremendous tough demos from my telephone that I recorded at house on my piano, and he listened to them and liked the songs and stated, “Let’s do it.” So I recorded all of the demos with my vocals on there, and he took his time with the songs from the Catskills and dreamt up the entire preparations. What you hear on the album is all of his superb concepts coming to life.

How do you often seize your concepts? Do you utilize the Voice Memo app in your telephone?

I take advantage of it on a regular basis once I’m writing songs, on a regular basis. All of those songs from this album began as a Voice Memos.

That’s so widespread now. I keep in mind the story about Billy Joel on a prepare pondering of “New York State of Thoughts,” and he needed to hum it to himself till he lastly made it to a piano.

Yeah, once I was residing in New York I’d be on the subway and would all the time give you track concepts there. We didn’t have quick methods to report them—I suppose you possibly can have carried round a tape recorder, however I did not.

Are inventive concepts, like doing an idea album, coming to you naturally—like on a prepare—or are you consciously setting apart time to assume?

I feel in some methods it’s simpler to make an idea album. You might have a clearer thought of what the tip product is and you’ve got extra of an project. I’ve been writing for Broadway just lately, which is extra of an project, too. You’re attempting to serve the story and taking cues from the e book author and every part. However the inspiration [for My Favorite Dream] got here from simply being a dad. We had posted an Instagram video of me singing a Fisher-Worth Tune from the toys my infants performed with, and so many followers have been like, “John, please make extra lullabies. We want them!” I began to consider it and I didn’t wish to simply cowl songs that have been already out, I wished to create one thing new, as a result of I’m a songwriter and I like to write down songs. So I took it on as a problem to write down new lullabies that might turn out to be classics. I sat at a piano and began making a listing of matters and topics I wished to speak about, all issues I speak to my children about and messages to encourage them, consolation them, and encourage them to fall asleep. So these have been the thought-starters for the songs, and I’d sit and write. That is the primary album I did on my own, with no co-writers.