Like I Want You

"Like I Want You" is gentler and more tentative than a direct love declaration — it holds its feeling at a slight remove, circling what it wants to say rather than arriving at it immediately. The production is warm and spare, Giveon's voice sitting close in the mix over soft percussion and restrained instrumentation that never crowds him. He sings with the careful enunciation and controlled vibrato of someone who has studied the old masters — Sam Cooke's restraint, the measured ache of classic Motown — and translated it into something that feels contemporary without being cold. The song is about desire constrained by uncertainty, the specific anxiety of wanting to give yourself to someone while not yet knowing if they want that from you. It moves slowly, almost cautiously, and that pacing is itself the statement — some feelings deserve to be approached without rushing. Giveon emerged from Long Beach, California, with a sound that deliberately rejected the trends around it, and "Like I Want You" is a clear statement of that intention. It belongs in the canon of R&B that values restraint, where the space between the notes carries as much meaning as the notes themselves. Best heard in the early stages of something new — when you're still learning the shape of another person and don't want to get it wrong.