John Legend, Actions | Track Review 🎵

Grammy-winning R&B singer/songwriter John Legend continues to keep soul alive and well on “Actions,” his second single of 2020.

“La-da-da-da-da, here I go again / With another love song that I wasted / Just another love run out of patience…” John Legend simply oozes with soul, whatever song he may be performing at the time.  In 2020, he’s gotten off to a fantastic start, releasing the incredible “Conversations in the Dark” back in January.  Now, he follows up excellence for, well, even more excellence with “Actions.” “Actions” exemplifies and old-school, retro-soul sound without sounding, well, too old or a total anachronism if that makes sense.

“Actions” is short but incredibly sweet, just missing the three-minute mark in regard to duration.  Produced by Oak, he masterfully captures a classic sound, assisted by two awesome samples: “The Edge” (David McCallum) and “The Next Episode” (Dr. Dre featuring Kurupt, Nate Dogg, and Snoop Dogg).  Sure, “The Next Episode” can be characterized as ‘old-school’ hip-hop considering it’s 2020, but regardless, it’s refreshing to hear.

Of course, the star of the show is John Legend, who, to reiterate, sings like an absolute champ.  He never has to force things, sounding naturally compelling, nuanced, and potent.  The focus is L-O-V-E, with Legend placing emphasis on showing as opposed to telling.  This is best exhibited on the chorus which tweaks/transforms the old saying, actions speak louder than words:

“Actions, speak louder than, speak louder than, speak louder than love songs
The melodies they carry on
Actions, speak louder than, speak louder than, speak louder than love songs
I’ve been doing it all wrong.”

Final Thoughts

Once more, John Legend has delivered a surefire winner.  “Actions” is well-rounded in every sense of the word.  The vocals are elite, the production is classic yet refreshing, and the songwriting is entertaining with the chorus being catchy.  Are there any rubs when it comes to the “Actions” of Mr. Legend? Nope, none that I hear.  This is a bop.

John Legend • “Actions” • Columbia • Release: 3.20.20

Photo Credit: Columbia