Tracklisting:

1. Free Me
2. Could Have Been You
3. Parallel Lines (Ft. Jeff Beck and Sheila E)
4. Lady
5. Y and 20
6. Big Ole Game (Ft. Raphael Saadiq)
7. Governmentalist (ft. Nas)
8. Incredible
9. You Got The Love
10. I Believe It To My Soul (Ft. Dave Sanborn)
11. Stalemate (Ft. Jamie Hartman)
12. Girlfriend On Demand

Above is a clip of Joss performing the lead single "Free Me" live.

already loving the 1st single. definitely getting this one too!!
[Edited 10/11/09 21:58pm]

Copycat said:

I like it Very retro-sounding.

ernestsewell said:

Thats what I mean...playing some drums is all I care about

Joss Stone: 'I Fought The Record Label To Release The New Album'
October 2009


Soul singer Joss Stone feared her recording career was over after falling foul of her record company.

The multi-platinum award-winning star, who at just 22 is already on her fourth album, returns with Colour Me Free on the heels of 2003's The Soul Sessions, the following year's Mind, Body & Soul and 2007's Introducing Joss Stone.

But she endured a painful lesson when her record company took the huff after she took the initiative and recorded songs for the album without giving them the heads up.


"Unfortunately, I didn't ask permission from my record label, and because of that they wouldn't release it," Joss revealed.

"When you sign a record deal, basically you have to have the label's approval on what songs you record, where you record them, the artwork, the musicians, everything. I didn't do that.

"I made this album and I thought it was acceptable. But the label people were very angry. Then they told me they wanted me to work on the album more but I refused."

A stalemate ensued with Stone even offering to pay a whopping £2million to get out of her record deal with EMI. In the end, her label agreed to release the album without alterations to the track listing or recordings.

Joss said: "You can't put a price on your freedom to make music the way you want to make it. For a while, me and my record label were not on the same team and it was harsh. But now everything is OK and we've worked things out.

"And it is exactly how I made it. I didn't touch it one bit. If it's not commercial then so be it. It's an album for people who love music. It's not about getting radio play.

"I understand that the label is run by businessmen and they don't believe that the songs are commercial enough. I understand their logic but I don't want to be part of it. I just want to make music. So we're putting this music out and hallelujah."

Despite the aforementioned business hassles, she believes fans will think the wait for the new album was well worth it.

Released on October 20, Colour Me Free was recorded on a whim at her mother's live music venue, Mama Stone's, last year and was originally due to be released in April. It's a collection of catchy, old school R&B numbers sung with passion and fire.

Joss said: "One day I woke up and decided to make an album.Within a couple of days, the musicians were in, and for about a week we wrote and recorded songs, and it was pretty much done.

"It was a good piece of music and I used the right standard of musicians, recorded it properly and mixed it properly.

"I'm going to do my best for Colour Me Free and work as hard as I usually do. But at the end of the day I just want people to like it.

"If they buy it and share it with their mates, then cool. But I just want people to enjoy the music and forget about anything else.

"I'm not going for the No.1 spot. If they don't like it, I'm not bothered because I'll make another one anyway."

Romance is one of the main subjects Joss has written and sung about in the past, as it is on the new material.

"A lot of different things inspired me," she admitted. "There was one particular bloke who inspired some songs, and another one who inspired the others. I had a lot of experience between now and the last record, but the lyrics are not only about men. The song Free Me is about being independent, about being yourself, and gladly. It's about putting a smile across your face and not worrying about anyone else's opinion."

She added: "I haven't had a boyfriend for a long time but I have fallen in love and out of love as young chicks do.

"I don't know if it was real love. It can't possibly have been. The songs are all about a particular person, but I don't really write about songs unless I have something to write about. I also write about other people and their stories, too."

Between her various projects - including her acting role in TV series The Tudors and the launch of a new range of hair dyes - Joss has been out on tour, playing the songs from Colour Me Free months ahead of the album release.

"I toured it in Europe because I thought it was not coming out," she said. "It was weird because the album wasn't out and every night I was singing these new songs to a new audience. The reception was really cool.

"I was nervous because I played a lot of new songs but people loved them and that was a real up for me. Doing it this way kind of let me know which songs were the most popular.

"I would say to the audience 'Let me know if you like this or not. If you don't I'll take it off the record.' It was a strange way to put an album together but it was great. So I'm touring the USA again in January, and February I'll be back in Europe again."

And there's every chance she will continue to perform barefoot as she has on past tours.

She said: "It's weird because I don't really wear shoes because they hurt my feet. I'm too tall and I fall over in them.

"But I love shoe shopping and shopping for underwear. But when I have to shop for an item that I really need, or for stage clothes, then I hate it because it's stressful.

"When I'm here in Los Angeles and I do a lot of shows. My friend Christie goes out, buys loads of things, brings it all back and then in between interviews I can pick out what I like.

"Then she takes back the stuff I don't want. That's so helpful and she's really good. I guess that's kind of like a stylist, isn't it?" She added: "Every time I do a show, I have to put my bloody eyelashes on. I just can't be bothered a lot of the time.

"My friend in LA, puts on the individual lashes and they last for a month. It's the easiest thing.

"Now, all I have to do is put on a bit of foundation and some lip gloss and I'm ready to go."







http://www.dailyrecord.co...-21734118/

Good for her! She stood up to her record company and made the album that SHE wanted to make.I bet that EMI wanted her to make a "commercial" shit-hop album that sounds like Beyonce and all the other crap that goes to the top of the charts these days.Joss would rather get a REAL BAND and make some REAL MUSIC and I applaud her for that.

Copycat said:

I wonder if "You Got The Love" is a remake of the Rufus/Chaka Khan classic?

I LOOOVE that "Governmentalist"

Jesus it sound like it was recorded in the 60's if it wasnt for Nas being on the tracka nd you can even tell he was not in the studio to record the part because his microphone sounds too clear. Joss ssounds as if she's in some studio basement with a old mic and background singers fighting for the front.



Think this will be the first album I will buy since Whitney's last one.
[Edited 10/15/09 7:24am]

paisleypark4 said:

You heard it already?? Has her CD leaked?

SoulAlive said:

It's a pretty nice record. I'm not a big fan of the smoothed out Funk sound, but I think it's right up your alley.

Copycat said:

Love it!!!

I'll buy it for this song alone!

dirtyman2005 said:

You'd bone anything.

SoulAlive said:

No I just got it from..a place..yeah.

I only downloaded the single song tho

The new disc is a Target exclusive, which will retail for $9.98.

Copycat said:

lawd

The music seems solid i admire the fact Joss likes to use real music i don't know if her vocals really changed becuase her soul singing seems one range

i don't think the album will sell as well as her previous albums but good luck to Joss for her future endevaors

New interview where she discusses the album cover art, etc.

Labels That fucking cover is even uglier than the original one


But Joss

sosgemini said:

... l guess she's running for the Worst Album Cover of the year?? WTf is dat?? it loox like some cheap homemade indie album cover!!

review of her album:


COLOUR Me Free" Joss Stone (Three and one half stars): On "Colour Me Free," Joss Stone’s much delayed fourth studio album (it’s been bumped twice since its original spring drop date), the Brit waif is at her bluesy, soul-singer best. The back story is that Stone is a very unhappy camper at her record label and wants out of her contract. Yet any bad feeling about this is transformed into universal songs about the bondage and baggage of love. Stone’s voice is powerful, reminiscent of the energy Aretha brought to many of her early recordings. Although Stone is wonderful on the song "Could Have Been You" and "Free Me," two of the disc’s best, her collaborative efforts with hornman David Sanborn on "I Believe It to My Soul" and Jeff Beck and Sheila E. on the song "Parallel Lines" truly stand out. It’s in these songs that she finds joy in music that emerges like laughter at a party.

Copycat said:

She just needs 'SLAVE' on her forehead

This is the alternative (dull) cover EMI is releasing to some Target retail stores.

Copycat said:

That is all kinds of wrong. Even the colours and font are fuglay

Listening to this now

veronikka said:

Me too

Such a good album!!!