Estelle is moving on.
After enjoying the lion-share of her success under John Legend‘s Homeschool Records (a joint deal with Atlantic), the British-bred songbird has flown from her recording nest of six years to create her own label.
Details after the jump…
According to Billboard, the London-born/New-York-based starlet has created a new imprint in partnership with BMG – her publishing home for over ten years.
Aptly christened New London Records, the independent label is by no means a side-project. The Grammy winner will be releasing her own material on it starting this month. Currently in the midst of rolling out a three-volume EP titled ‘Love & Happiness)’, ‘Vol. 2 Waiting To Exhale’ arrives next in a matter of weeks, while ‘Vol. 3 How Stella Got Her Groove Back’ is slated for an October impact date. ‘Vol. 1 Love Jones’ was released in June.
On taking creative control of her current and future musical endeavors, Estelle said in a press release:
“This is a new and exciting move for me. BMG has been an awesome partner throughout my career, and with New London we plan to continue bridging the gap between soul, pop, London and New York — uniting them through music.”
BMG executive president Richard Blackstone added, “Estelle has been a valued member of the BMG family as a writer for some time now. She is a deeply passionate artist gifted with a tremendous voice and has music running through her veins. We are thrilled that Estelle has expanded our relationship and entered into a new partnership with BMG Label Services to release her upcoming album.”
The said LP, the singer’s fourth, is scheduled for release in February 2014. As yet untitled, the project is the follow-up to 2012’s ‘All Of Me’ – which yielded moderate hit ‘Thank You’.
2008’s ‘Shine’ remains the star’s most successful effort – both critically and commercially, and is most notable for housing mega-smash ‘American Boy’.
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While we have our own theories as to why Ms. Swaray is no longer with her former label (see: post-Shine sales, promotion, and the like), we’re genuinely excited for this new chapter of hers. For, unlike some artists forcing the “independent agenda”, her organic, Soul-filled brand of Adult Contemporary feels like a sure-fit for the non-major label route.
Indeed, though Urban AC barely makes a ripple on the charts these days, it does still provide a strong vehicle to cultivate a dedicated fan-base and mobilize a profitable career by way of performing, touring and cutting out the unnecessary overheads.