Natasha Bedingfield – 4th Studio Album: 2014

2014 Grammys Interview: Album is "Nearly Finished"

Natasha Bedingfield attended the 2014 Grammys, which were held on January 27th. She had a brief interview with Billboard, and when the interviewer asked her what she was up to, Natasha responded with some exciting news: "I'm just finishing my album, nearly finished! A really good one." And when will this album be out?

Soon, soon, soon. I'm so excited, and it's really hard to keep it to myself. But I can't wait. I can't wait to share it with everyone.

Natasha didn't divulge any more details about her new music, but at least we had a little good news.

 

The Next Chapter

On January 22, 2014, Natasha shared some exciting news and a photo, along with the name "The Next Chapter." Her official website was updated, and it looked like it was time to start her 4th album era.

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Unfortunately, despite it seeming like The Next Chapter was ready to go, nothing else came of this.

 

"Just Wanna Be Your Girl"

In February 2014, a 30 second clip of a demo called "Just Wanna Be Your Girl" leaked onto the internet. However, this is probably not a contender for Natasha's new album. It was registered on ASCAP back in May 2010, while Natasha was working on Strip Me. "Just Wanna Be Your Girl" is another leftover from Strip Me, and most likely won't be released on Natasha's next album.

 

Back In The Studio

Natasha returned to the studio in March 2014, and shared a shot with good vibes. She was working with Linda Perry.

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"Crash And Burn"

On April 27, 2014, English synthpop musician FrankMusik released his fourth studio album, By Nicole. Natasha Bedingfield was featured on the album's 6th track, "Crash And Burn." Natasha also helped write the song. It's a great track - but is it indicative of the new direction Natasha is going? Will this song end up appearing on her album? Time will tell. Nonetheless, we got a great song out of this surprising collaboration.

You can buy "Crash And Burn" or the whole By Nicole album on iTunes now.

 

"Who I Am"

In April 2014, Disney released a movie called The Pirate Fairy, the sixth in their Tinker Bell film series. Natasha was part of the project: She wrote and recorded a song called "Who I Am" for the film. The song was released on the film's soundtrack, which came out on April 1, 2014. You can hear "Who I Am" below, and buy the track on iTunes.

 

In The Studio: May - August 2014

For the majority of May, Natasha worked with Wayne Wilkins and Tori Kelly. Later on she was back with Toby Gad. And of course, Natasha kept her fans in the loop with plenty of studio updates:

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A post shared by Wayne Wilkins (@blowdaspeakers)

 

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"Love Song To The Earth"

In fall 2014, Natasha Bedingfield debuted her first new song in quite a while. She attended the United Nations 2014 Equator Prize Gala in New York City on September 21st, and performed a new song she wrote specifically for United Nations Climate Summit. “Love Song To The Earth” is an ode to keeping the world clean and safe. Forget about the things that divide us – religion, politics, race – and focus on joining together to take care of our planet Earth.

She performed it with Toby Gad, who co-wrote the song with Natasha.

“Love Song To The Earth” is  beautiful ballad with soaring vocals and sincere emotion. Hopefully it can help bring people together to do good for our world.

Before and after the performance, Natasha shared some pictures on Instagram and expressed her excitement about the song:

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There is no word yet on whether “Love Song To The Earth” will be officially released, or whether it will appear on Natasha's new album. Toby Gad has worked with Natasha during the writing process, so we may hear more of their collaborations once the album is released.

 

In The Studio: September - October

Natasha continued working on her album during September and October 2014:

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7 New Song Titles on ASCAP

In mid October, seven new songs were registered on ASCAP.

The songs include “Can’t Shake It Off,” “Me Around You,” “My Love (Dando Te Mi Amor),” “Non Mi Ami,” “Our Summer,” “Rubber Ball,” and “Top Down.” Most of these were co-written with Toby Gad, whom Natasha was working with earlier in 2014. Just in September the duo performed a new song they had written, called “Love Song To The Earth.”

Here are the new songs as shown on ASCAP, including songwriters and publishers. “Top Down” in particular seems to have been recorded, since Natasha as listed as a performer as well.

 

An Unwritten Leftover Leaks: "Save My Love"

Early November saw a nice throwback! A whole decade ago, Natasha Bedingfield was a fresh young singer from the UK, and she had only just released her debut album Unwritten. Hits like “Single,” “These Words,” and the anthemic title track brought her the respect and admiration she deserved, and she has had a successful career since then.

But with an album filled with gem after gem, there were some songs that had to be left off. Now, 10 years later, we finally get to hear one of those forgotten demos. “Save My Love” was recorded for Unwritten, but ultimately did not appear on the album. It’s a mid tempo ballad, led by a picked guitar and backed by ethereal strings. Give it a listen:

It’s a lovely song, but unfortunately the demo we have cuts off before the end. Hopefully the complete version will appear in the future.

Not many of Natasha’s leftover demos have leaked over the years, but the few that have are all stunning. We’re glad we got to hear “Save My Love,” even if it’s an incomplete demo version.

 

More Studio Work and a Birthday Q&A: November - December

Natasha stayed busy during the end of the year. She continued with her studio photos, and also took some time out of her birthday to answer some fans' questions.

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For her birthday on November 26th, Natasha did a Q&A with fans. Fans were able to ask her questions in the comments of one of her Facebook posts, and she went through and answered some of them. Natasha didn't answer many questions about her new album and music, but for the ones she did respond to, it was mostly information we have already: She's getting closer to finishing the album but can't share anything yet.

However, she did give us one new clue: She has a duet with someone! We wonder who it could be…

 

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Digging For Gold

In December 2014, Natasha sat down with The Nation to explain why recording this album has taken longer than past records. Here is part of the interview:

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 once her album comes out.

 

Announcing "Hope" and a Collaboration with Philosophy

In mid December, it was clear that new music from Natasha Bedingfield would be coming sooner than we may have expected. The British pop singer had teamed up with philosophy, a women’s wellbeing beauty brand committed to supporting community-based mental health organizations. Natasha wrote a song called “Hope” with her new writing and production team made up of Matt Robinson (her husband of nearly 6 years), David Saw, and Ryan Freeman. “Hope” was written to spread hope to women everywhere, and to draw attention to the mental health needs of women. 

“Hope” was given an iTunes release date of January 13th, with 20% of the proceeds going to the Hope and Grace Initiative. Natasha was also scheduled to perform “Hope” on January 20th in New York City. The philosophy-hosted event will be available to watch on LiveStream.

In a press release, philosophy’s Senior Vice President, Jill Scalamandre, said:

At philosophy, we believe that it is important to nurture the skin as well as the soul, and music offers a powerful way to lift spirits and spread a message. The philosophy of renewed hope in a jar is ‘live with optimism, renew with hope,’ a sentiment that not only ties perfectly to this beautiful song, but also to the hope and grace initiative’s mission of helping lift the stigma that surrounds mental health.

Natasha Bedingfield also spoke about the new song:

Philosophy understands the power of words, and as a songwriter this resonates deeply with me. I was thrilled to collaborate with philosophy on the song and to help raise awareness about mental health, particularly among women. This song is about how powerful hope is and that we all need to be reminded sometimes of how even the darkest nights become bright mornings, and hope can carry us through any hardship.

You can learn more about philosophy, the hope and grace initiative, and their collaboration with Natasha on “Hope” from the original press release. You can also visit philosophy at their official website.