Kevon Edmonds - Who Knew (2009)

Despite releasing his first solo album ten years prior, Kevon Edmonds picks up where he left off, updating his sound while (for the most part) avoiding the sonic tricks used on most mainstream R&B releases in 2009. Who Knew, the singer's second solo album, is a brief set involving some assistance from two of his nephews -- songwriter David Edmonds and multi-instrumentalist/producer Jason Edmonds -- and it is heavy on warm ballads, enlivened by a handful of midtempo tracks that are light and breezy. Longtime fans who waited for the After 7 vocalist to spring out from behind the scenes might be dismayed that the album is not more substantial, whether in terms of length or variety, but it is one of the year's more likeable adult contemporary R&B releases, more concerned with songcraft than showmanship.