Natasha Bedingfield Says Making Her New Album Is Like Digging For Gold
Natasha Bedingfield’s last record came out in 2010. In the 4 years since then, she has been working on her upcoming 4th studio album, and she’s getting closer and closer to finally finishing it. The project, tentatively titled The Next Chapter, should be out sometime in 2015. Natasha sat down with The Nation to explain why recording this album has taken longer than past records.
IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOUR LAST ALBUM, “STRIP ME”. WILL WE BE HEARING ANOTHER ONE SOON?
I’ve spent the last three or four years writing for the new album. It’s nearly ready and I’m just waiting for the right time to bring it out. I’m so excited, because when you’re writing new music it feels so good, and it’s like a secret that nobody knows about yet. You’re writing a collection of songs that need to have a flow, a story to tell.
On this album I’ll be focusing on the vocal tone. When people hear it, they’ll hear themselves in it.
WHY IS IT YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO TAKE ABOUT THREE YEARS BETWEEN ALBUMS?
Because I write my own songs and I have to come up with the material myself. It normally takes about two years for an album, but this one has been a bit longer. I start to think the album is ready, and then I write a few more songs and I’m, like, “Oh, this is even better!”
In a way writing songs is the same way as digging for gold. You find gold, and you keep digging and you find even better gold. The question that every songwriter has is when is the time to stop digging and cash your gold in.
AND WHEN DO YOU STOP DIGGING?
For me a good song needs to have a good lyric and a number of other things that have to be satisfying for me to release it. I could write songs just for me, but I also write songs for other people, so I have to think about what people are going to feel when they hear it and what they’re going to talk about.
But I do go back and change songs that I’ve written because there’s the production aspect. Production is like putting on your makeup. With songwriting I’ve made my biggest mistakes and had my biggest successes, so I’m not afraid to try anything. The way my process works is that I brainstorm – I throw out lots of ideas out, and then I take out all the good ones. There’s no judging – it’s a process to get into a very creative mindset.
Natasha also spoke about dream collaborations, EDM, and growing up with musical siblings. You can read the rest of her interview with The Nation to find out more.
With all this writing and digging, Natasha surely has crafted some masterpieces for her new record. It will be exciting to get to hear these little pieces of gold in the coming year.
Earlier this year, Natasha released a few new songs as part of various projects. “Who I Am” was written for the Disney movie The Pirate Fairy, which was released in April. In September, Natasha debuted a new song called “Love Song To The Earth,” which she wrote with songwriter Toby Gad. She performed it live at the United Nations 2014 Equator Prize Gala. In January, Natasha will release a song called “Hope” as part of the Grace and Hope initiative from philosophy. It supports mental health and well-being, and 20% of the iTunes proceeds will go to the initiative. “Hope” will be released on January 13th.
There is no confirmation if any of these songs will appear on Natasha’s upcoming 4th studio album. So far, we have a list of nearly 20 song titles that could make it onto the record. Hopefully we will have more concrete information on that in the coming months. Keep checking back here for all of the latest Natasha Bedingfield music news.
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