John Legend Announces Pharrell-Produced Album Muse Due October 23

John Legend has announced Muse, a 16-track album produced entirely by Pharrell Williams and scheduled for release on Oct. 23 through Republic Records. The project marks the longtime friends’ first full-length collaboration and grew out of Legend’s appearance on Clipse’s album, where his vocal performance inspired Pharrell to develop a record around his voice. Legend says he wanted to move beyond his familiar piano-led ballads, drawing on gospel, soul, hip-hop, Afrobeat, doo-wop and classic standards for what he calls a modern “Black James Bond aesthetic.” The album includes Pharrell on several tracks and Clipse on “Bodies on the Floor,” while “Daylight” serves as the lead single and has been praised as a fresh, potentially career-reinvigorating direction for Legend.