ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Celebrities devider AUDIO JUNKIE: GIVÄ’ON gives R&B and neo-soul the boost it needs

AUDIO JUNKIE: GIVÄ’ON gives R&B and neo-soul the boost it needs

Published Mar 13, 2021 10:24 am

Be on the lookout for more from GIVĒON this year.

The Grammy-nominated R & B singer is currently enjoying much-deserved attention. This, courtesy of his emotional single entitled “Heartbreak Anniversary.”

The cool 26-year old Long Beach California native has brought soul to the fore on this mid-tempo, electro-tinged number.

As of this writing, the track is at the top the heap of local Spotify chart Top Hits Philippines (alongside a whole slew of Asian territories) and with good reason.

“Heartbreak Anniversary” has already charted at Billboard’s R&B charts and is already a certified Gold single.

The single is from the full length deluxe album entitled “When It’s All Said And Done…Take Time,” which according to his press, is said to have picked up where 2020’s “Take Time” and “When It’s All Said And Done” EP left off.

The album is basically an amalgamation of his previous releases. Sonically, it is a mix of neo R&B and minimalist soul and tells of stories that “detail the peaks and valleys of a love story gone awry.”  

It starts with “The Beach,” GIVĒON’s noir-themed love story which he wraps in R&B guitar, trap beats and soul. 

Minimalist R&B “World We Created” comes next while equally sparse “Take Time (Interlude)” shows how well a vocalist Giveon is.

Lyrics and a solid melody is all that “Like I Want You” singer needs to stand.

Cascading arpeggios open “This Ain’t Love” and here GIVĒON melds neo-R&B and soul. And that baritone is thick sounding as it is melodious.

Electro and soul merge on Giveon’s aching “Heartbreak Anniversary.”

This track is the best representation of who and what GIVĒON is all about, at least for the time being. That being said, same song is what’s currently giving GIVĒON all this favorable mileage.

GIVĒON interjects conversation snippets throughout and uses it as his aesthetic to bridge songs together and to give it a conversational quality.

Other points of interests in the album include chill and early aught-style R&B of “Like I Want You,” and spare but tuneful “Vanish.”

Ditto the duet “Last Time (featuring Snoh Aalegra).”

We also like the acoustic version of the “Like I Want You.”

His label PR describe GIVĒON’s performance on new single “All To Me” as such: “his voice glides over warm guitar, soft strings, and glimmering keys. GIVĒON’s instantly recognizable baritone echoes on the hook (as he croons) ‘oh he still don’t make you feel beautiful, I know, but I do, just know I got you.’ Once again (spotlighting) the sound the world fell in love with a year ago.”

I don’t know about falling in love, but yeah, we wouldn’t mind hearing GIVĒON all these songs for us.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.