Two years after landing her first R&B hit with “Don’t Want You Back,” Leela James has decided to take her sound in a completely different direction this next era.
Joining music alliances with The Truth Band, a trio of far-out creatives, the R&B veteran has announced plans to release an EP titled Are You Ready.
Scheduled to arrive on April 12, the forthcoming EP will consist of six songs that were created in just a short time.
“It was easy breezy; [the Truth] were so easy to work with,” James said to Rolling Stone. “We went in the studio with fresh heads and just wrote while we were there. We recorded everything live.”
“That Woman,” Are You Ready‘s lead single, finds James in full hard-rocker mode as she wards off bad men who step to her without respect. Her rough-edged vocals and fervor wails fit flawlessly in the aggressive mold of rock/soul greats like Tina Turner.
James also released a fired up music video to accompany her new single.
James’ A&R Rex Rideout and her label Entertainment One (eOne) will market the “That Woman” differently than any of her previous releases that were only shipped to Urban Adult Contemporary radio formats. The song will be serviced on the format known as Adult Album Alternative, which caters to audiences who appreciate Rock and Alternative Rock artists.
Even though James has plans to a second EP with The Truth Band following Are You Ready, she isn’t turning her back on R&B. She is in the studio working on a full-length follow up to 2017’s Did It For Love.
Rock out with James below.
