Read more at Idol Chatter:
Blake Lewis ‘ Heartbreak on Vinyl:
(only $7.99 at Amazon!!!)In a Q&A interview with Brian Mansfield of Idol Chatter, Blake Lewis talks about the release of his sophomore album, Heartbreak on Vinyl.
As I mentioned in my post last night, the new record, released through indie label Tommy Boy Records, is a much better representation of who Blake is as an artist, than his post-Idol debut:
For people who’ve heard Audio Day Dream but only Sad Song from the new album, give them a sense of the difference between the two albums.
It’s definitely a completely different record. This is the record I wanted to make — fun, definitely my same kind of pop vocal stylings, but in a different environment, very danceable music.
What took Audio Day Dream in a different direction from what you had your heart set on?
Pretty much Clive Davis openly saying he didn’t like electronic music, and that’s what I had been doing for 11, 12, 13 years.
We definitely butted heads. I’m no diva R&B singer, so we didn’t get a long very well.
When Blake was promoting his post-Idol debut back in the fall of 2007, he couldn’t stop gushing about the creative control he was able to wield over the album, and that it was, give or take a song, exactly the album he wanted to make. He also had effusive praise for Clive Davis.
Of course, Blake was doing his job. He would have been stupid to badmouth his record and his label while out promoting the new album. But, Blake’s turnabout illustrates nicely why I bust out the salt lick when an Idol claims, in pre-album release interviews, that he/she has control, loves the label, loves the album, etc. The post-album release story typically features tales of compromise and struggle.
On Adam Lambert:
Has Adam Lambert’s success this past season had any effect on your life whatsoever?
Yes and no. It’s the American Idol family, so he got compared to me, as being rebellious and flamboyant. I got that. I guess I’m known as the rebellious American Idol. And he kind of did his own thing.
He’s a great dude. I helped him with a couple of beats for his record and tried to hook him up with certain people for his album. I saw him at one of their shows, at an American Idols Live concert in New Jersey. He just tore the roof off. He and Matt Giraud were my favorites from this season, and Allison, as well.
This was the first season that I actually watched, ever. It was cool, because there were two or three people I really enjoyed.
Adam pimped Blake’s album on twitter last night. Adam thanking Blake for “helping him out with some beats”? Heh.
Read the rest of the interview for Blake’s take on his Idol run, why he loves his new record, and the girl who broke his heart…
