Following a number of false-starts, Kelly Rowland has confirmed that her third studio album will not be hitting stores this year.
Full story below…
The news came during Rowland’s interview with Paper Magazine at a New York Fashion Week event this weekend:
Your new material continues to receive a ton of buzz. When can we expect the album?
Next year for right now. I’m still working on it. A friend of mine, Bryan Michael Cox who did Mariah’s “We Belong Together” with Jermaine Dupri — we’re all going back in the studio because they tell stories so well. So we’re going back in to write more stories. {Source}
If this isn’t an indicator that Rowland’s team have gone back to the drawing board Stateside (as in from scratch), I don’t know what is. Nonetheless, the latest delay could prove either beneficial or harmful to the project.
On the one hand, Kelly has hit the studio with some real industry heavy-hitters as of late (see: JD, Bryan Michael Cox, Tricky Stewart, The-Dream); a fact which bodes well for her chances of finding that US smash (something neither ‘Rose Coloured Glasses’ nor ‘Grown Woman’ were – unfortunately). What’s more, a successful album requires solid set-up – something a rushed release of her newly recorded material would not have allowed for.
However, in keeping it real, public interest can only sustain for so long. I mean at least Europe saw ‘Commander’ and now ‘Forever & A Day’ get the full single treatment (video et al); the US nothing.
Call it stanism or whatever you chose, but it’s all still to play for and Ms. Kelly can (and hopefully will) win. Yet, yours truly would be lying if I said this latest set-back didn’t make her uphill-battle that much steeper. It’s gonna be a long road. Are you riding with Kelly?