Live for today.

Sounds like good advice, but for Eric Benét, today isn't enough. "I like the idea of making music that transcends time and history," says the soft-spoken artist. "Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole: people will be playing their records 100 years from now. I hope to make music like that." That might be a tall order for most young artists, but with Eric Benét, the smart money is on him to make it. For with A Day In The Life, his new Warner Bros. Records album, Eric instantly vaults to the front ranks of innovative singer/songwriters.

In the wake of his 1996 Warner Bros. debut True to Myself, Eric toured the world, making friends and fans wherever he went. When he returned home to Milwaukee last year, he set to work, writing scores of new songs and teaming up with a handful of equally talented writers and producers. A year's-worth of careful crafting resulted in A Day In The Life, clearly Eric's finest work to date.

"I didn't go into this thinking I had to do everything better," he says. "But it's a process of maturation, of growth as a writer and performer. I just wanted to take my time and come up with the right body of work." Grounded in classic R&B, A Day In The Life was largely inspired by Eric's real life experience. "I keep a journal," he says. "The album title came from re-reading passages in my diary. As a songwriter, I just opened myself up to whatever came out of my heart."