Sara Bareilles Reveals Plans to Record ‘Little Voice’ Concept Album
Today, Sara Bareilles’s Apple TV+ series Little Voice premieres, launching with the first three episodes. It follows a young musician in New York City trying to make it in the music industry. In case you missed it, the series features the theme song, written and performed by Sara; her recording came out last month. (She’d actually written it 15 years ago for her major label debut album, Little Voice, though it wasn’t included on it.) In addition to executive producing, Sara has also composed all the music for the show. Today, Sara revealed that the show will lead to not only a cast album, but also a concept album of all the songs as performed by Sara. That’s right: We have a new Sara Bareilles album to look forward to!
First, we’ll be getting a cast album. As of today, we already have an EP with five songs, including three originals composed by Sara. Each episode of Little Voice will feature one or two new songs, so by the end of this season, there should be at least 10 songs. The series also features other well-known songs, further bolstering the show’s soundtrack tracklist.
After the cast album, though, Sara Bareilles fans can look forward to her versions of the songs in her own concept album. Much like how she released a concept album of her songs for the musical Waitress in 2015 (plus an EP of demos last summer), Little Voice will be heard through Sara’s voice, too.
Here’s how she explained it to Variety in a newly published interview today:
Variety: Will there be a soundtrack album right away, or do you want to let people discover the songs through the show first?
Sara: Oh, we’re doing all kinds of stuff, honey. We’re doing soundtrack album, concept record, playlists. There’s going to be lots of music from the world of “Little Voice.”
Variety: A concept record, as in a collection of some of these songs sung by you, like the one you did of “Waitress” songs (before there was a cast album to be made)?
Sara: Similar, yes. There will be several companion pieces to our show. First and foremost will be the cast soundtrack album, sharing the music of the show by our wonderful cast. We spent so much time and love on the soundtrack it feels like the most important priority piece for now. Upcoming, we are finding all kinds of interesting ways to share the music of the featured artists who appear in the show, and I will indeed make a concept record, when the time is right, reimagining the music of the show as a Sara Bareilles record.
Read the full interview — all about Little Voice – at Variety now.
More About Sara’s Little Voice Songs
In several recent interviews, Sara has explained that the songs used in Little Voice were all written or co-written by her. (She worked with collaborators Justin Tranter, Lori McKenna, and Jack Antonoff.) Many are older songs that simply never got used on any of her past albums. “Little Voice” and an upcoming song called “Simple And True” are both examples of songs from her own back catalogue. However, Sara also wrote some new songs specifically for the series, such as one called “Ghost Light.”
The first three episodes are out now, and they came with three original songs: “I Don’t Know Anything,” “Coming Back To You,” and “Dear Hope.” We would expect all six of these songs to appear on Sara’s concept album. A partial tracklisting may look something like this:
- Little Voice
- I Don’t Know Anything
- Coming Back To You
- Dear Hope
- Simple And True
- Ghost Light
There will also surely be at least five more songs.
While we await Sara’s concept album, be sure to enjoy the new Little Voice cast EP out now:
You can also listen to Sara’s recording of “Little Voice” now:
Little Voice: TV Series
The new Little Voice show centers on a young songwriter, Bess King, navigating New York City and trying to find her own voice. The plot loosely resembles Sara’s own start in the music business, and it’s fitting that the TV show’s theme song also serves as its title track. The half-hour dramedy series is available exclusively on Apple TV+, and first season will feature 10 episodes.
According to The Hollywood Reporter:
Little Voice stars Brittany O’Grady (Fox’s Star) as Bess King, a uniquely talented performer struggling to fulfill her dreams while navigating rejection, love, and complicated family issues. The show will also feature original music from Bareilles as it tells a story about finding your authentic voice and the courage to use it.
The first three episodes of Little Voice are available now. We watched them and are already loving the show! We can’t wait for next week’s episode! Each Friday, one more episode will be made available until the season finishes in late August.
Amidst The Chaos
In April last year, Sara made her big comeback to (pop) music with the release of her album, Amidst The Chaos. It launched the singles “Armor” and “Fire,” plus promo singles “No Such Thing” and “Saint Honesty.” Though, truth be told, some of our favorite songs weren’t even singles. Check out our track-by-track review of the stellar album and be sure to listen to it (and maybe all of Sara’s albums… we’re feeling nostalgic!).
Last August, Sara Bareilles released a new EP, What’s Not Inside: The Lost Songs From Waitress. It followed Sara’s 2015 album, What’s Inside: Songs From Waitress, which featured songs she wrote for the hugely popular Broadway musical, Waitress. The EP features 6 songs that didn’t make it into the musical, plus Sara’s show-stopping ballad, “She Used To Be Mine.”
In November, five old Sara demos leaked online. She recorded them in the 2000s with Ryan Dusick, formerly of Maroon 5. Earlier this year, Sara also appeared on lovely acoustic version of “Teach You” with Emily King.
Upcoming Concept Album
We can’t wait to hear Sara’s Little Voice concept album! She didn’t indicate when she’ll record and release it, but we’re hoping that’ll happen later in 2020. For now, enjoy the new “Little Voice” single – it’s so great to have this after all these years! You may want to revisit Sara’s 2007 album, too: Little Voice still holds up. And of course, enjoy Sara’s new Apple TV+ series, starting with the first three episodes now. Keep checking back here for all the latest Sara Bareilles music news.
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