Don't give up!

Because Josh Groban says You Are Loved. (photo: Warner)

The single was made available for streaming on the fanclub site today (and on AOL first listen) and I, along with thousands of fellow Grobanites, threw myself over the link and waited anxiously for the file to load. You've all read my worried ramblings about what Josh would or would not sound like on the forthcoming album; what direction he would take musically. I'm not worried any longer, if anything a little surprised, in a positive sense.

"You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" is definitely not an operatic song, probably not even deserving of the crossover label. It's a sort of power ballad, where a lot of the power comes from Josh's golden larynx - he shows off his wide vocal range by reaching way down on the low notes and then, the minute after, soaring high with his beautiful falsetto. These 4 and half minutes of vocal brilliance are built up around moving, yet positive lyrics, about knowing you're worth something in this world and that someone will always be there to pick you up if you should fall. A topic that seems to be balancing on a fine line between cheesy mush and sincere sweetness, but with a voice like his, Josh can pull it off. The listener believes in him from the first note - "Don't give up/It's just the weight of the world/When your heart's heavy/I will lift it for you" - seemingly standard phrases, but expressed oh so convincingly.

If you were first drawn to Josh Groban's voice through the operatic tracks of his debut album and is half expecting him to start belting out arias on his upcoming release, I must disappoint you. Josh is not an opera singer, though he may want to move towards that genre later, and for the time being he seems comfortable expanding the meaning of the term pop music as we know it. The result, which we'll be able to hear November 7 (already available for pre-order at Amazon), may annoy classical purists and delight chart-pop listening teens, but one can at least not argue with the fact that Josh Groban has a God-given voice.

You can listen to the song here: http://music.aol.com/franchise/firstlisten