British native Estelle has been a breathe of fresh air in world of R&B since releasing her debut album The 18th Day in 2004. By her sophomore album, Shine, the London beauty gained more popularity in the States and won her first Grammy Award for “American Boy” featuring Kanye West.
In February 2012, Estelle released her gloomy third album, All of Me, which mirrored the rocky road she traveled during her previous relationships. With songs about the painful breakups and overcoming the hurt such as “Back To Love,” “Break My Heart” “Wonderful Life” and “Thank You,” Estelle sung the everyday relationship blues fans and listeners have gone through at least once in their lives.
While Estelle achieved much success with a major deal, she decided to take more control over her career and launched her independent label Established 1980 Records the following year. Estelle quickly learned that there’s not much of a difference in being an independent artist. “Music is what it is, the industry is still what it is and you still have to be great,” she says. “You still have to work and put your best foot forward in every situation.”
Estelle’s fourth studio album, True Romance, is available now and is the first release via Established 1980 Records. According to Estelle, the album, lead by the inspirational track “Conqueror,” is a reflection of where she is now in life.”I wanted to do something that spoke about the real in between parts of love,” she says on her inspiration behind the album. ”It’s about self discovery and figuring out life on my terms — not being held to any relationships, not being held to anyone. ”
The album is composed of four themes — passion, courage, true romance and the bullshit. “I wrote it in a space where I was learning something about myself every day and I would put it in a song,” Estelle reveals. Unlike her previous releases, True Romance does not have any features.Instead, the spotlight remains on Estelle. “I made a conscious decision to have no features,” she says. “I decided I’m going to do it. It’s my album. Why would I have a million features on it?” She makes it clear that she didn’t want a project that sounded like a compilation album with many features. We get it. It’s her story. Let her be the only one to tell it.
While True Romance may not be the happiest album Estelle has released, the “American Boy” songstress reveals what really makes her happy. “Sunshine [laughs],” she says. “Quite literally. I’m very affected by what the weather looks like every day. I feel like I definitely get sad when it’s cloudy, rainy and gray outside. I’m a big fan of simple things.”
In addition to her music, Estelle plans to continue focusing on her nonprofit organization called All of Me Foundation, which was named after her third album. The mission of mentorship foundation is to give young people between the ages of fourteen and nineteen the skills essential for healthy personal and career development.
Get Estelle’s new album True Romance in stores or online now.
