He definitely stepped it up in the studio and gave us his all, bringing a great balance.I'm a sucker for countdowns. Without his voice in our signature sound, it would have been cheating our fans. Since Melvin was no longer doing this, we checked in with him to see if he was game to work on the album. Recording again with original member Melvin Edmonds: This is crazy.” Then it was let’s just roll with it and see where it takes us. Daryl and Kenny looked at each other and said, “Damn, they sound just like they used to sound. “I Want You” was the first song we recorded.

It was like we’re in here and really doing this, huh? You don’t even know what you’re going to create or what it’s going to sound like. There was a slight undercurrent of nervousness and electricity.

Returning to the studio for the first time in more than 20 years: It may be reminiscent of what you recall only because our music is timeless. The music we’re creating today stands on its own. We didn’t want any association lyrically or melodically to cast a shadow on what we’re doing now. We didn’t want anything that echoed what came out of our catalog. The songs had to be something that knocks people’s socks off. We kept driving that point home to Kenny in speaking to the caliber of the songs. Anything else was not going to turn anybody’s head. For us to come back today, we couldn’t be rolling in the latest model Benz, a 750 BMW or Audi. When we started out in 1989, we were a fresh, brand new group rolling in the latest Cadillac. And it was extremely important to have trust and had fun in the process. We knew that whatever we did working with them would be our best effort.

We had to go back to the same well we started with. Going into this, there wasn’t really a question of who to work with. So he asked us to try a couple to see what would happen. Babyface had a few songs that didn’t make the cut for his last solo album. 19) - After 7’s first Big Apple performance as a group in more than 10 years - lead vocalist Kevon talked to Billboard about the group’s momentous return. Prior to playing BB King’s in New York this week (Oct. Also adding to the album’s family affair feel: nephew David Edmonds wrote, produced and sang on the track “Too Late.” Though he left the group in 1995, Melvin stepped back into the fold to help record Timeless. Originally comprised of Babyface’s brothers Kevon and Melvin Edmonds with Keith Mitchell (cousin of Babyface’s former songwriter/production partner Antonio “L.A.” Reid), the current After 7 lineup features Kevon, Mitchell and Melvin’s son Jason Edmonds.

Timeless marks both a creative and family reunion for After 7. The album was produced by the group’s longtime creative collaborators Kenneth “ Babyface” Edmonds and Daryl Simmons.

After 7 babyface songs