Much to the shock and discomfort of many a Leona Lewis fan, it was confirmed yesterday by the entertainer herself that the release date for her long awaited ‘Glassheart‘ album has been pushed to 2012.
This, just weeks after it was announced it was to be released in November of this year.
Citing ‘the inspiration to continue recording’ as the cause for this delay, the entertainer and her management have come under criticism from some who say the mishandling of the project is the real cause for its push back. Especially given its lead single ‘Collide‘ failing to make major impact on either the Official UK Top 40 or the Billboard Hot 100.
Now That Grape Juice weighs in on the situation.
How do you solve a problem like Leona’s ‘Glassheart’?
While many of her supporters would likely object – Leona seemingly lacks a creative opinion.
In a world where the personalities of the most accomplished performers are as famed as the products they continue to push, Ms ‘Bleeding Love‘ lacks the ‘sonic opinion’ that makes many of her chart rivals so personable.
What Leona needs, we posit, is a producer to help her to a carve the niche she so desperately needs.
That Grape Juice’s Recommendation : Rick Rubin.
Responsible for many of Pop’s most recognizable hits, his recent work on Adele‘s ‘21‘ has been cited as one of the major catalysts for the LP’s success.
Famed for his ‘stripped down’ production style, he is just the man to provide Leona with the Adult Contemporary material to showcase her vocal range in the way upbeat Pop numbers like ‘Collide’ have failed to do.
Far be it from us to encourage ‘swagger jacking’, but what Lewis desperately needs are contemporary power ballads in the vein of ‘Set Fire To The Rain‘ and dare we say Celine Dion‘s ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me‘, to truly achieve the creativity and character her last album lacked.
And whilst we’re on the issue of personality:
Gone are the days when winning a world famous talent show is enough to generate enough public interest to last three of four albums.
In order to hold the attention of a public who wants so much to idolize her, it is high time Leona unveiled the personality she is adamant she has so much of.
A personality which enables her to dispel the ‘boring persona’ which she has found herself burdened with since her days as a talent show competitor. The intricate traits of such personality isn’t what matters. However, what does matter and is of concern is that her biggest soundbite to date is her recent declaration: “I’m not boring’.
If that truly is the case, then now would be a aptest of times for her to prove otherwise.
For it is becoming more and more apparent that whatever the Brit-bred belter is doing at the moment is quite frankly failing to do the trick.
How would you handle Leona’s Album?