Annie Lennox is taking a trip back.

Nostalgia, her first non-holiday album in seven years, is a collection of the iconic singer's impassioned takes on standards primarily from the 1930s and 1940s, many of them popularized by the likes of Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Jo Stafford and Louis Armstrong.

The album was produced by her longtime collaborator Mike Stevens, and finds Lennox at her most soulful, bringing levels of depth and warmth to songs that primarily originated from the civil-rights era.

And to give the lushly arranged album the appropriately intimate treatment, Blue Note/Capitol will issue Nostalgia as a three-week vinyl exclusive starting Sept. 30, before distributing on digital and physical formats on Oct. 21. An international release date, via Island Records, is expected to be announced shortly.

Lennox tells Billboard that Nostalgia is the result of hours spent on YouTube perusing vintage recordings and video performances of songs from the Great American Songbook, particularly those rooted in the blues. "I was just curious, I thought, 'I wonder what my voice would be like. Would these songs suit my voice?' It was like a little challenge," Lennox says. "I just sort of got to know them, became friends with them really and had a great deal of joy in the process."

Billboard can also exclusively premiere the album's cover and track listing, which includes three songs penned by Hoagy Carmichael -- "Memphis In June," "Georgia On My Mind" and "The Nearness Of You" -- as well as selections from Johnny Green ("I Cover The Waterfront"), George Gershwin ("Summertime"), Screamin' Jay Hawkins ("I Put A Spell On You"), Billie Holiday ("Strange Fruit" and "God Bless The Child"), Harry Warren and Al Dubin ("September In The Rain"), Pee Wee King ("You Belong To Me"), Sammy Fain ("I Can Dream, Can't I") and Duke Ellington ("Mood Indigo.")

The album was previewed for an intimate crowd Tuesday night at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, where Lennox was introduced by her new Blue Note label boss Don Was. In a lengthy Q&A with the audience, and in speaking with Billboard, it's clear that Lennox took a hands-on approach with her return to music. "I made my choices intuitively. I didn’t go to somebody and ask them to find me 30 songs. Once you invite them in, it becomes a part of your language -- very personal. There’s an alchemy in it."

Although Lennox released an album of contemporary covers in 1995, Medusa, she insists that Nostalgia is not the same concept. "I think of it as interpretations of songs that are part of a classic songbook, so it's a very hallowed ground in a way. You don't go to these songs lightly."

Lennox has only done a smattering of live dates since her 2007 tour in support of Songs of Mass Destruction, but she says she'd "love to" do some performances in support of Nostalgia -- but not too much.

"The thing is, at this point in time, less is more for me. I'm more about quality than quantity, and I think this is quite a niche place to be. I like that I found this little area of music that's gentle and I feel introspective. It's not something that you just kind of hear in the back -- it kind of takes you, it transports you. It makes you feel something -- it's very emotive in a way."

Nostalgia Track Listing

1. Memphis in June
2. Georgia on My Mind
3. I Cover the Waterfront
4. Summertime
5. I Put a Spell on You
6. Strange Fruit
7. God Bless the Child
8. September in the Rain
9. You Belong to Me
10. I Can Dream, Can't I
11. The Nearness of You
12. Mood Indigo

[img:$uid]http://www.billboard.com/files/styles/promo_650/public/media/annielennox-nostalgia-albumcover-pr-image-2015-billboard-650.jpg[/img:$uid]

http://www.billboard.com/...um-details

Not sure how I feel about this. I'm glad she's back but going from a christmas album to a standards album isn't exactly the sign of someone who has much to say. Not sure how she'll do with most of the songs but I Put A Spell On You should be a interesting cover.

[Edited 8/15/14 15:48pm]

Im sure its gonna be great but at the same time what you said bout the last release was christmas so it leaves me kinda meh.

Love her, I will take any "new" music at this point.

Bout time. Been waiting.

Neither the music nor the presentation of Annie Lennox’s forthcoming standards album “Nostalgia” carried a whiff of business-as-usual during a listening session Tuesday night in Hollywood.

First was the location. The album will be released this fall by Capitol Records-affiliated Blue Note Records, but rather than hosting a listening session at the obvious location of Capitol’s historic recording studios in Hollywood-- where Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and other great crooners made so many of their records--the event took place at Hollywood Forever Cemetery’s Masonic Lodge.

I can't invest myself in whether people love it. I really do want to be loved ... but I'm also prepared to be hated. - Annie Lennox

The former Eurythmics singer established the relevance of the site during a question-and-answer session with Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis. She noted that most of the songs she’s chosen—among them George and Ira Gershwin’s “Summertime,” Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo,” Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell’s “Georgia On My Mind" and Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" written by Abel Meeropol—have long outlived those who wrote them.

“Some of them might be out there,” the Scottish singer, songwriter and activist said with a smile, pointing toward the celebrity-dotted graveyard a few feet away.

Then there was the session itself, a throwback to the days of a record business flush with cash, when labels could afford to hold posh gatherings to introduce new recordings from high-profile artists. Several music writers in attendance commented on the rarity of such tony events in the era of diminished expectations.

Even the release date is somewhat unorthodox. The album will be released on vinyl on Sept. 30--"the format the album was intended to be heard in," according to a statement--followed Oct. 21 in digital and CD formats.

Mostly, the music itself showed Lennox bringing the emotive power of her distinctive voice to offer fresh perspectives on largely familiar songs.

A cover image of Annie Lennox's forthcoming "Nostalgia" album hung on the wall in the Masonic Temple at Hollywood Forever Cemetery for an invitation-only listening session on Tuesday. (Randy Lewis / Los Angeles Times)

A few examples: the opening of “Summertime,” in which she sang the word and sustained for an impossibly long time. She held on a single note rather than injecting as many melismatic flourishes as humanly possible, the modus operandi of so many “American Idol” -era female singers, and consequently drew far more emotion out of it.

She played with chord changes in Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ haunting 1956 R&B classic “I Put a Spell On You,” altering the placement of its shifts from major to minor and thus bringing new emphasis to the song's expression of romantic desperation. A luscious reading of “Mood Indigo” blossoms out of her bluesy solo vocal into gorgeous three-part harmonies reminiscent of the Boswell Sisters and other tight harmony groups of the ‘30s and ‘40s.

Lennox told Pop & Hiss following the session that her approach to these songs was largely instinctive, in her way applying the liberating spirit of rock ‘n’ roll to the material from the Great American Songbook of the pre-rock era.

“It’s very humbling to be a musician,” she said, expressing her belief that the best musicians set their egos aside to allow the essence of a song to emerge.

Responding to a question from DeCurtis about how long she spent preparing and recording “Nostalgia,” the artist, who will turn 60 on Dec. 25, quoted the adage about the Zen master’s answer to a student who asked how long it had taken to draw a perfect circle the master had just sketched: “A lifetime.”

It’s a safe guess that Blue Note wants “Nostalgia” to occupy the slot in the fall that appeals to a broad spectrum of listeners, especially those 30 and older who tend to buy more music than younger, streaming-oriented music fans. Recent albums of pop classics by Rod Stewart, Susan Boyle and Michael Buble have sold well through the holidays by drawing in those consumers.

Lennox, though, said she wasn’t concerning herself greatly with reaction, focusing instead on trying to do justice to beloved songs.

“You can’t be proscriptive about people’s reaction,” she said, noting her own amazement at the broad spectrum of responses she received to photos she's posted on her Facebook page with images of a fork, knife and tomato, and another of the British Union Jack flag. “I can’t invest myself in whether people love it. I really do want to be loved," she added with a smile, "but I’m also prepared to be hated.”

Calendar will have more on “Nostalgia” closer to release date. Stay tuned.

This sounds boring. These songs have been covered so many times that I don't see what she could possibly add to them. Now I think a covers album from her might work and would be cool, but if she chose some surprising lesser known songs that haven't been heard so many times.

I love the Eurythmics, but I find her solo music a little dull. I think it would be better if she did a electro or synth pop album like Alison Moyet's last album. Now that might interest me.

Awhile back, the Org mentioned that you know your career is in a downhill slump when you start doing covers. But - on the flip side - I have been impressed by some that have done stellar with the idea... such as fDeluxe. I just don't want them, or Annie Lennox, to put out another volume after the first [clears throat, uh-um ROD STEWART]. I agree with JoeBala - it will be nice to hear some "new" Annie Lennox, even if it is "old" music. I hope it means there will be a release of something fresh in the future!

Askani said:

It's about time the Great American Songbook was retired for a little while. It's getting played out. This is lazy and disappointing. I'm sure it'll sound lovely, but who'll listen to it more than once? Would be more interesting to hear these songs with a contemporary sound rather than the same old lush orchestration. If these songs are so great, they should be malleable. But we only ever hear them in the same way over and over.

^^^ This.

Askani said:

If these songs are so great, they should be malleable. But we only ever hear them in the same way over and over.

YES

[Edited 8/17/14 16:43pm]

Glindathegood said:

This sounds boring. These songs have been covered so many times that I don't see what she could possibly add to them. Now I think a covers album from her might work and would be cool, but if she chose some surprising lesser known songs that haven't been heard so many times.

I love the Eurythmics, but I find her solo music a little dull. I think it would be better if she did a electro or synth pop album like Alison Moyet's last album. Now that might interest me.

She's turning 60 this year, I don't think she's expecting to reach new fans or cares about chart success anymore. While I agree with you, I'm happy she put her activist role aside long enough to record any music at this point.

I don't like covers albums anymore.Too many veteran artists go this route and I think it's tiresome.I'd rather see her doing a Eurythmics reunion album with all new songs.

Glindathegood said:

This sounds boring. These songs have been covered so many times that I don't see what she could possibly add to them. Now I think a covers album from her might work and would be cool, but if she chose some surprising lesser known songs that haven't been heard so many times.

I love the Eurythmics, but I find her solo music a little dull. I think it would be better if she did a electro or synth pop album like Alison Moyet's last album. Now that might interest me.

Didn't she do this kind of album years ago, as Medusa?

I might buy this album (on CD), but this sounds like she's treading water.

I thought she would be covering the 1960s (Motown) soul that actually informed her singing style.

To be honest, to cover these well-known jazz standards seems to be a very commercial decision.

Cinny said:

I thought she would be covering the 1960s (Motown) soul that actually informed her singing style.

To be honest, to cover these well-known jazz standards seems to be a very commercial decision.

She has 2 girls who I think would be around college age. Education aint cheap.

lazycrockett said:

Cinny said:

I thought she would be covering the 1960s (Motown) soul that actually informed her singing style.

To be honest, to cover these well-known jazz standards seems to be a very commercial decision.

She has 2 girls who I think would be around college age. Education aint cheap.

I though that she was somewhat well-off/loaded with cash, myself.

Oh Im sure the gal is flush with cash, but if you got funds going out may as well as have some coming in. All she has to go in a sing some songs, play around with the arrangement and boom.

lazycrockett said:

Oh Im sure the gal is flush with cash, but if you got funds going out may as well as have some coming in. All she has to go in a sing some songs, play around with the arrangement and boom.

But does anyone actually make money from selling records anymore? Most artists make money from touring. Most of her fans would prefer a Eurythymics reunion so if she really wanted to make money she'd do that.