It’s hard to believe that soulful singer/songwriter (and Grammy winner) Joss Stone has been making music for almost 10 years now! While she’s had her fair share of career ups & downs, Joss has always remained elegant and classy throughout, no matter what sort of adversity is thrown her way. On July 23rd in the UK and July 31st in the U.S. Stone will release a new album, Soul Sessions Volume 2, a sequel of sorts to her multi-Platinum 2003 debut album. This album, her sixth studio album, will be released as a joint effort between her self-started label, Stone’d Records and the original label that made her a star, S-Curve Records. I cannot wait!
Soul Sessions Volume 2 features eleven cover songs spanning both past and present, including deep cuts like “(For God’s Sake) Give More Power To The People” (Chi-Lites), “The Love We Had” (The Dells), “Pillow Talk” (Sylvia), “While You’re Out Looking For Sugar” (The Honey Cone), and first U.S. single, “The High Road,” a “stone-cold soul makeover” of the Broken Bells‘ 2009 debut single.
I love it when an artist releases an album of obscure cover songs. While popular covers are great, if you don’t know the original song, it brand new to you, PLUS you’re more likely to educate yourself and go listen to the original. Stone’s debut album is a perfect example of this for me. When I first heard her debut single, “Fell In Love With A Boy,” I had no idea that it was originally a song called “Fell In Love With A Girl,” performed by The White Stripes. Same with her follow up, “Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin’ on Me?) Pt. 1,” I had no idea that Waylon Jennings originally performed that song back in 1967! I think it’s a true sign of talent when an artist can take a cover song and make it his/her own and Joss does that very well.
On her new album, Stone reunited with S-Curve‘s Steve Greenberg for a series of electrifying sessions in Nashville, pairing up with a brilliant team of talented musicians including Ernie Isley, Delbert McClinton, Clayton Ivey and others. Joss had a ball recording the album, as is pretty evident in the press release:
“I really had fun revisiting ‘The Soul Sessions’ idea and I’m really pleased with the results. I’ve committed long term to my label Stone’d Records, but it felt right to team up with Steve Greenberg and S-Curve again for this release. I think there are some great songs on the album and I loved performing them with such brilliant musicians.”
Can you believe she was only 15 when she recorded her debut? Now, at 25 Joss sounds BETTER than ever, proving that things really do get better with age. To help promote the album, Joss will be embarking on a worldwide tour, including a preview show in New York City June 20th, at Highline Ballroom. Joss will be streaming tonight’s Under The Bridge gig live from London starting at 8:45 UK time (3:45 EST/12:45 PST) HERE.
Joss Stone‘s breakthrough debut album The Soul Sessions was an international, multi-Platinum hit record, peaking at #4 on the UK Albums Chart and #39 on the Billboard200, spawning two Top 20 UK Singles (“Fell In Love With A Boy,” “Super Duper Love“). Follow up album, 2004’s Mind Body & Soul was an even bigger hit, debuting at the Top of the charts in her native England and at an impressive #11 on the Billboard 200. The album saw Joss achieve her first Top 10 single, with “You Had Me” peaking at #9.
With Joss’ third album, 2007’s Introducing Joss Stone, the sultry soul singer’s popularity in the UK began to wane ever so slightly, as she entered the UK Album Chart at #12. In the U.S., however, Stone was just hitting her stride with her third release becoming her highest charting release in America, coming in at #2. Fourth album, Colour Me Free! almost didn’t get released, following drama with Stone’s U.S. label at the time, EMI Records. While CMF became her lowest charting album to date in the UK (#75 on the UK Albums Chart), the drama seemed to have very little effect on it’s performance in America, as the album peaked at #10.
Stone’s fifth album, entitled LP1 was the first album released off of her self-started record label, Stone’d Records. The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart at #36 (a considerable improvement from her last) and at #9 in America, becoming her third consecutive album on the Billboard 200. In September of last year, Virgin Records/EMI released a compilation album, The Best of Joss Stone 2003 – 2009, much to Stone’s disappointment, who in an interview with The San Francisco Examiner, criticised the album’s title, citing it’s cheesiness and hesitation regarding the tracklisting, saying: “I don’t know what kind of hits they’re gonna put on there, because I’ve never had any hits!“
Stay tuned for more info on Joss Stone‘s upcoming new album The Soul Sessions Volume 2, including album tracklisting, single information and tour dates. In the meantime, check out the colorful video for Stone’s second ever single, “Super Duper Love (Are You Diggin’ On Me?) Pt. 1.” 10 years later, girl’s STILL got it goin’ on!
