He calls the “joyful” album one of his “sexiest yet.”

“Ordinary People.” “Save Room.” “All of Me.” John Legend has no shortage of hit songs; the Grammy winner’s music has become the soundtrack for a generation. So one might think it would be hard for him to top himself for his seventh studio release, but his newest album, “Bigger Love,” just might be his best yet. The joyfully mellow compilation of 16 tracks was made for riding down the highway in the summer—or even just blasting through your windows on a warm night in quarantine.

So this week, I caught up with Legend to hear everything about his new record, which he calls his “sexiest album yet,” with songs he describes as “joyful and colorful.” During our check-in, he revealed much of the album was created and recorded remotely during the quarantine.

“I knew I was releasing it into crazy times: Not only were we in the middle of a pandemic, but just after we announced that we were going to release the album on June 19^th, we saw video of George Floyd being killed and people protesting in the streets,” Legend said. “A lot was going on, but I still felt like people need some uplifting music—so I’m going to give it to them and hopefully it can help them get through what’s been a tough spring, and hopefully this music will help them have a better summer.”

In addition to recording and releasing a new album during the quarantine, Legend has been kept busy with his four-year-old daughter, Luna, two-year-old son, Miles, and his wife of seven years, model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen. In fact, Teigen—who is notoriously open on social media—has recently shared that she’s been in recovery from surgery to have her breast implants removed, meaning Legend has had to play nurse.

“We’ve had a lot going on in the house. [Chrissy] is recovering, she had plastic surgery a couple weeks ago that she’s told everyone about…it takes recovery time whenever you let someone cut you up a bit. So I’ve been trying to help her as much as possible. The babies have been trying to help and not sit on her too much. She’s still a little sore, but she’s getting much better, and she gave me a wonderful Father’s Day yesterday so I’m appreciative.”

Happy belated Father’s Day! How did you guys spend your day?

Well, I was so happy. A special that we had filmed for ABC for Father’s Day aired last night so that was great. And then Chrissy surprised me and had a really nice restaurant quality dinner prepared for me but in our backyard. So we did it social distancing style.

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I have so many things to talk to you about, but first, how is your family doing in the quarantine?

We’re good! You know, we’re still doing a lot of quarantine things, like the kids aren’t going to school, and we’re barely leaving the house ourselves. We left for a few things for work but we’ve done safe practices when we’ve done so, wearing masks whenever possible and requiring that everybody who works with us wears a mask as well. So we’re trying to do our best and do some things that are back to normal, and some things that are getting us back to work but still doing it safely.

Somehow in the middle of this, you managed to put out “Bigger Love.” I’ve been listening to it nonstop, it’s such a beautiful album. What made you say now is the time?

Well, I always want to put the music out when it’s ready. So for me, we had been working on the album since early 2019—some of the songs are older than that. But we had been working on it in earnest in full since early 2019, and by early 2020 I felt like I had a body of work that I was really proud of. I knew which songs I wanted to be on the album and I just had to finish them. When I say finish them, I mean do the string arrangements, the horn arrangements—all the things that, the special seasoning that you want to put on something before you put it out. And so we had to do most of the seasoning while we were in quarantine.

I would send notes to all the guys I was working with and say I need you to add this to this section and add this to that section, but we did it all remotely. When I asked Koffee and Jhené Aiko and Rapsody to be on the song, most of their vocals were recorded after we went into quarantine as well. So I had to communicate with them digitally and just explain what I was looking for in the records and had them record it on their own time whenever they could. And so the last few months of finishing the album had to happen while we were on lockdown. But we were able to get it done, and as soon as it was done, I wanted people to hear it.”

It feels like this week there’s a lot more hope, but also I worry a little bit that George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement will just turn into a news cycle. How do you think we can encourage people to keep this conversation going?

Well I believe that it hasn’t been just an isolated incident, because Black Lives Matter has been organizing and being active in trying to make the change that they’ve been talking about for years now. And just because they’re not on the top of the headlines every time doesn’t mean they’re not doing the work. I speak with them a lot, a lot of the organizers and activists who are trying to get rid of our jails and prisons, who are trying to reduce the footprint of police in our lives. This work is ongoing, and it gets highlighted during these big moments like the video of George Floyd being released, and other times when a big conflagration comes up, but the work is ongoing.

Hopefully as many of us who can and are inclined to will stay engaged. Stay engaged with the local politics because that’s where a lot of the decisions are made and at the least, vote to make sure that the right people are in charge in your community. So at the minimum, everybody should be encouraged to vote. But I think also, being proactive and engaging with your local politicians to make sure they know that you are looking at what they’re doing and holding them accountable for what they’re doing.

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How do you as a dad talk about things as heavy as this with young children?

Well, I haven’t really gotten to that point yet, because my daughter’s four and she doesn’t watch the news with us yet. So it’ll be a little later in her life I think, not much later, but a little later before we start really getting into some of the nitty gritty of what’s going on in our world. Right now, we’re just trying to teach her to love who she is, love where she comes from and know that she’s loved and valued.

And then as she gets older, and as my son gets older, we’ll teach them about the real world and what’s going on in the world. We’ll teach them about what it means to be Black, and what it means to be Asian, and what that means and their heritage and what it’s meant in this country. And then hopefully also give them some hope that their generation can be one where we see real change happen, and real justice and real equality happen.

I loved that you and Alicia Keys did a Verzuz “battle” on Juneteenth. Would you guys ever do a collaboration album?

I think that we should at least tour together at some point. We’ve done that before. I think that would be an amazing tour. You know, joint albums are interesting too. I hadn’t thought about that one but I definitely think at some point we should tour together. I think people loved seeing us together on Friday, and it was just good energy and mutual respect and love. Just good music, it was just a good night. I really had a blast, and Alicia had a blast. We felt the love from the fans, and we were giving it right back.

Can you share which songs your family is loving?

Well the kids love “I Do.” That one is track number three on the album. It’s really fun for them to dance to, they love singing along to it. It’s probably the simplest chorus on the album, too, so it makes it easier for a two-year-old to sing along to. But it’s a bouncy song and they just love dancing around to it. And then my wife loves the one I did with Jhené Aiko, “U Move, I Move.” She loves that one. She loves “Wild,” the one that features Gary Clark Jr. on the guitar. Those are two of her favorites.

Well you have a new album, you have a lot going on, what’s next for John Legend. Any big plans for the summer?

We’re going to take a little break in July. I’ve been working so hard to get the album out and promote the album. Then we’re going to come back and shoot The Voice in August, Chrissy’s got a lot of work to do when we come back. But it’s been a lot of work putting this album out getting it ready for the public and I feel so relieved to have it out. We’re getting such great feedback from everybody, people are really enjoying it. Hopefully it can be with people all summer and give them some extra love and some extra good feelings all summer. And then I’ll get back to work doing all the things I have to do in August.

I know many people in quarantine have had ups and downs. I’m sure everyone, even John Legend, has bad days. What’s one thing that picks you up if you’re feeling sad?

Well this one sounds self-serving, but music definitely picks me up. So if people are feeling down, music can definitely help. Of course, it’s great to have a loving family. My kids, they brighten my life every day. They make me laugh, they make me smile, they make me proud to be a dad. And of course, my wife makes me laugh a lot too. She’s very funny and keeps things exciting around the house. So I feel very fortunate. Music is great, my family is great, and I get to do what I love to do which is a blessing.