Colour Me Free!
Colour Me Free! is the fourth studio album by English singer and songwriter Joss Stone, released on 20 October 2009 by Virgin Records. The album was originally scheduled to be released in April 2009. However, Stone's record label, EMI, delayed it to July and again to 20 October. "Free Me" was released on 22 September 2009 as the only single from the album. In the United States, the album's physical and digital releases were made available exclusively through Target and iTunes, respectively.[2] Colour Me Free! features guest appearances by Raphael Saadiq, Nas, Jeff Beck, Sheila E., David Sanborn and Jamie Hartman from Ben's Brother.
Colour Me Free!
20 October 2009
2008
- Mama Stone's (Wellington, England)[a]
- Blakeslee Recording Co. (North Hollywood, California)[b]
- Blue 52 Lounge (North Hollywood, California)[c]
- Jeff Beck's home studio (London)[c]
- Legacy (New York City)[d]
- Titan (London)[e]
- Maida Vale (London)[f]
- Electric Lady (New York City)[g]
- Kensaltown (London)[h]
- Apollo (Dublin)[i]
- Human (New York City)[j]
- The Studio (Philadelphia)[k]
52:29
- Jamie Hartman
- Dan Mackenzie
- Phil Ramone
- Conner Reeves
- Raphael Saadiq
- Jonathan Shorten
- Sacha Skarbek
- Joss Stone
Despite some criticism towards its ballads, the album was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who lauded its sonic direction and Stone's vocals. Colour Me Free! peaked at number 75 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming Stone's lowest-peaking album in the United Kingdom. It debuted at number 10 on the US Billboard 200, selling 27,000 units in its first week. The song "4 and 20" was included on the soundtrack to the 2010 romantic comedy film Valentine's Day.[3]
Background and recording[edit]
Stone began writing songs with Jonathan Shorten and Conner Reeves in Devon in early 2008.[4][5] Since they did not have a studio or any musicians, she paid a visit to Mama Stone's, a music venue that her mother was building at an old house in Wellington, Somerset, using the downstairs level as a performance space and the upstairs portion as writing rooms and a recording studio.[5][6] After noticing a vocal booth recently finished by construction crews, Stone was inspired to record an album. "I woke up the next day and it was like, 'I want to make an album and I don't want to think about it, I don't want to collect songs. I want to make it—now!'", Stone said.[6]
Stone called her assistant and asked for her touring musicians, who flew from the United States to Devon the following day.[5][6] Along with Reeves, Shorten and her band, Stone spent "an intense week of creation" at Mama Stone's. "We wrote the song and then we rehearsed it for, like, a little minute, and then we recorded it and then we wrote another one and recorded it. We didn't sit down and say, 'OK, how would we want this album to represent Joss? What songs are we going to choose? and blah, blah, blah ...' It wasn't any of that", Stone explained.[6] She also enlisted guest musicians such as rapper Nas, guitarist Jeff Beck, percussionist Sheila E. and saxophonist David Sanborn.[6]
Commercial performance[edit]
Colour Me Free! debuted at number 75 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 2,960 copies,[40][41] becoming Stone's lowest-peaking album in the United Kingdom to date.[42] As of July 2011, it had sold 14,071 copies in the UK.[41] The album debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 with 27,000 copies sold in its first week.[43] The album had sold 93,000 copies in the US by July 2011.[44] Elsewhere, Colour Me Free! performed moderately on the charts, reaching number five in Switzerland, number 16 in the Netherlands, number 17 in Austria, number 25 in Portugal, and number 26 in Canada and Germany.[45][46]