Leona Lewis poaches Adele’s producer for her make-or-break third album
Taking no chances, the determined star has also jettisoned half her former team after relatively disappointing sales of her last album
Leona Lewis is hoping to get back on track for her third album. Photo: Reuters
As Leona Lewis gazed at her TV and saw Adele scooping her six Grammys, while standing beside a tall, good-looking chap, she thought* to herself: “I want someone like you.”
And now she has him.
Following relatively disappointing sales of her last album, The X Factor winner has poached Adele’s fave producer, Fraser T Smith, for her make-or-break third album.
Taking no chances, the determined star, 27, has also jettisoned half her former team, too.
I’m told: “The Syco label has invested a lot in Leona and cannot afford a flop album.
“The execs are fully supportive of their most lucrative X Factor winner and have taken their time choosing a crack team for her.
“Fraser has produced some massive songs and has something of a Midas touch. He is a great signing.
“The label simply can’t be sentimental, so some of those credited on the last album, Echo, are absent this time around.
“But Leona has been extremely hands-on, too, and is really excited about the results. This could be her biggest seller yet.”
The record, provisionally titled Glasshouse, is due out in the autumn. It is her third studio album and her first since 2009.
While Echo was critically acclaimed, it failed to match the commercial success of her debut, Spirit, which peaked at No.1 in nine countries and
top five in a further eight. It has now sold over seven million copies worldwide.
Brit Fraser, 41, who has also worked with Tinchy Stryder, Taio Cruz and Ellie Goulding, won the Grammy for Best Album with Adele for 21 in February, after producing and co-writing US No.1 Set Fire to the Rain.
Speaking about his latest collaboration, he says: “It’s been amazing. People have preconceptions of what Leona is, so you want to keep that essence and keep pushing the boundaries.”
