Sydney, AU. (Top40 Charts/ EMI MUSIC Australia) -
Joss Stone has sold more than 7.5 million albums worldwide; been nominated for four Grammy Awards; appeared onstage with
James Brown, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Patti Labelle, Mavis Staples, Donna Summer, and Smokey Robinson; sat for an interview with Oprah Winfrey; starred in two major ad campaigns for the Gap; and performed for more than 200,000 people at the 2005 Live 8 Concert in London - all before reaching the ripe old age of 19.
And yet, only now, on her third album, Introducing Joss Stone, does the British soul singer and songwriter feel she is expressing her true musical vision. 'This is the first album I've made that is truly me,' she says. 'That's why I'm calling it Introducing Joss Stone. These are my words, and this is who I am as an artist."
Knowing she needed to write the album alone, Stone decamped to the Caribbean island of Barbados in April to come up with lyrics. There, amid the sandy beaches and warm tropical breezes, she had an epiphany. 'I'm driving along in my car and I'm thinking, �Why am I going through life looking for unconditional love from a human being, when it's music that's unconditional?' she says. 'It's always there for me. It's the love of my life. I've found it.'
That simple realization became a major theme, both lyrical and musical, on Introducing Joss Stone, and it explains the album's electrifying mix of warm vintage soul, '70s-style R&B, Motown girl-group harmonies, and jazzy grooves performed by a live band conducted by Stone's main musical collaborator and producer Raphael Saadiq (known for his work with D'Angelo, The Roots, and Macy Gray). "Raphael [who plays bass on the album] is the most mind-blowing musician I've ever met in my whole life," Stone says. "Musically, I feel like he reads my mind. I'll give him a look and he'll know exactly what I want." Stone and Saadiq spent two months recording in the Bahamas, and then mixed the album at the legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
In February 2006, she joined Stevie Wonder, John Legend, and India.Arie for the Super Bowl XL pre-game show, while on the night of the 2006 Grammy Awards, she appeared with Legend and Van Hunt singing a medley of hits by soul star Sly Stone. Their cover of 'Family Affair,' which appears on the Sly Stone tribute album Different Strokes By Different Folks, has been nominated this year for a Grammy Award for 'Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group.' Always game to honor the legends who came before her, Stone brought down the house with her rendition of Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man" at the UK Music Hall of Fame Awards in November. Stone will be no less busy in 2007, when Virgin Records releases Introducing Joss Stone.
'INTRODUCING JOSS STONE'
WILL BE RELEASED MARCH 10
