Well, THIS is a pleasant surprise! American Idol alum Jordin Sparks is set to release the first single off of her upcoming third album next Tuesday. Due out digitally on May 10th, “I Am Woman” marks a decidedly different musical direction for Sparks, who’s last album was a mixed bag – both critically and chart performance-wise. “I Am Woman” is less syrupy sweet than previous releases, with more of a focus seemingly placed on slick pop production rather than on Sparks’ impressive vocal range. I’m inclined to agree with The Prophet, who likens the song to Beyonce‘s latest single “Run The World (Girls).” Produced by Ryan Tedder, the man responsible for Jordin’s last real hit, “Battlefield,” the song doesn’t exactly SCREAM hit to me. This could be because I’ve only listened to it once, but if I’m basing this off of first impressions alone…I’m left wanting more.
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| Via Amazon.com |
The single premiered yesterday on AOL Music alongside an interview with Sparks where the 21 year old pop singer opened up about her new trim figure, female role models and her upcoming new album. In addition to working with Tedder, Sparks collaborated with R&B singer John Legend as well as the Underdogs, the team behind her biggest hit, “No Air.” Sparks also talked about opening for NKOTBSB (New Kids On The Block + Backstreet Boys) on their joint summer tour. According to the interview, Sparks is getting ready for the “I Am Woman” video shoot, working on choreography…which is interesting since there’s not even a director yet. Sparks tells AOL Music,
“Everything is still in the early stages. I’m still looking for an amazing director to do the video and we’ll see what happens, but this time around I’m really trying to step my game up. I want to evolve, not so much that people don’t know who I am still, but I’m experimenting with different things and different sounds and adding choreography is definitely different. So I’m excited!” {SOURCE}
Like I said…the jury is still out for me on “I Am Woman.” It could take a few more listens to settle in for me so I’ll reserve final judgement for later, but at first listen, this is where my head is at. Listen to the new single over on AOL Music by clicking HERE and tell me what you think. If you’re craving new music from Jordin Sparks now, you can download “The World I Knew,” from the Disney documentary African Cats HERE on iTunes. Sparks also shot a video for the song which you can catch over on VEVO HERE.