NEW YORK (Billboard) – Six months before singer-songwriter Ledisi began writing material for her new album, “Turn Me Loose,” she dealt with some serious writer’s block.
“I felt a lot of pressure,” she says. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted this album to be just like the last one or if I wanted to open up and be different.”
After releasing two independent, under-the-radar albums and then taking five years off, Ledisi signed to Verve Music Group in 2007 and released her label debut, “Lost and Found,” which raised her profile considerably.
The album, which sold 237,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, garnered the Bay Area-based singer two Grammy Award nominations for best new artist and best R&B album. The singles “Alright” and “In the Morning” peaked at Nos. 11 and 15 on Billboard’s Hot Adult R&B Airplay chart and sold 45,000 and 23,000 digital downloads, respectively.
But after listening to the Buddy Miles song “Them Changes,” Ledisi was inspired to write as well as perform, and teamed with producer/songwriters, including Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Raphael Saadiq, Chucky Thompson and Rex Rideout, who produced “Lost and Found.”
“I opened myself up to working with other producers, which was really hard for me. I usually like things consistent and in one way,” Ledisi says. “But when you work with others, they bring out different things. They remind you that you’re not just one way — you’re this way and that way too.”
The appropriately titled “Turn Me Loose,” her second album on Verve, is, Ledisi says, about “being free and encompassing everything I listen to — from hip-hop to rock and jazz.” It will be released August 18 and features songs that explore new territory for the singer-songwriter.
On the lead single, “Goin’ Thru Changes,” which she likens to a “sexy Prince-like ballad,” she sings about infidelity. “I wanted to talk about one of those topics that no one likes to talk about, and that’s cheating, but from the female’s point of view,” she says. “So I wrote a song about a relationship, and how hard it is to be with your partner — who is hardly ever around — and not cheat when someone else is giving you the attention that you need at home.”
Ledisi will begin a tour at the end of September that’s scheduled through November.
She’ll also have a branded campaign with flash cards that display her name and the correct pronunciation of it (led-duh-see). “I just want to grow and put out more quality music,” she says. “I want to be successful, and I want everyone to say my name right.”
(Editing by SheriLinden at Reuters)
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