Back in January, Disclosure and Mary J. Blige teamed up for a new version of Settle's "F For You". The remix proved immensely popular with fans, and Blige eventually joined the duo onstage at New York City's Terminal 5 to sing the track. A few months later, the R&B diva was featured on another reworked another British hit: this time, Sam Smith's "Stay With Me".
Now, in an interview with The Observer published August 31, Blige has announced a deeper foray into British music with The London Sessions. The new album, recorded earlier this summer, will include at least one track recorded in collaboration with Disclosure (who also co-produced the new project) and a "doo-wop" song featuring Sam Smith. It'll be out later this autumn.
This morning, Disclosure confirmed their team-up with Blige on their Twitter:
We have been writing/producing some songs on @maryjblige 's forthcoming record with @jimmynapes and @samsmithworld http://t.co/ARu15Na8Jx
— Disclosure (@disclosure) September 1, 2014
Blige worked alongside an extensive roster of musicians on The London Sessions. Emeli Sandé, Jimmy Napes, Naughty Boy, and Sam Romans all pitched in, with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins contributing additional production, according to The Observer.
Speaking with The Observer, Blige elaborated on what drew her to the U.K.:
The sound in London at the moment is house music. That is what the majority of people are producing their songs like. But the ones that get truly successful are the ones using proper songwriting. Rudimental for example – they write proper songs and then produce them like dance music. And that is exactly what we're trying to do, along with a few other people. But that applies to any genre, not just dance music. You could take the songs off Sam Smith's album, produce them in a completely different way and they would still be a huge success – you could produce them like acid jazz and I still feel like they'd get somewhere.
The list of collaborations so far is staggering: Smith wrote four songs total. He teamed with songwriter Napes (Smith’s “Stay With Me,” Clean Bandit‘s “Rather Be”) for a doo-wop track called “Therapy.” Disclosure worked with Blige on a ’90s house song “Right Now,” to pick up where they left off in the inspired duet version of Settle‘s “F For You.” Naughty Boy, who’s overseeing The London Sessions, also wrote a song with Sande that evokes “early 00s U.K. garage” called “Pick Me Up.”
Last month, Mary J. Blige headed to London to record new music. Now, The Guardian reports that the resulting album, The London Sessions (out November on Capitol), finds her inspired by and working closely with some of the U.K.’s brightest stars: Naughty Boy, Emeli Sande, Disclosure, Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes.
There was a big debate about what "next generation" means after the whole "WATCH_DOGS" graphics fiasco -- the graphics trailer for "WATCH_DOGS" in 2011/2012 looked breathtakingly stunning, compared to the "severely downgraded" graphics with the official "WATCH_DOGS" release in 2014. This single event changed how games are advertised with companies now stating, "This trailer was captured directly from [insert console]" before or after every preview.
In any case, there's a split between ideas about what "next generation" means. One side of the gaming community believe that "next generation" gaming is all about how immersed a player is through stronger storylines and an interactive world. The other side of the gaming community believe that "next generation" gaming is about how immersed a player is through gorgeous graphics. "WATCH_DOGS" really did set off a firestorm. The gaming community is a bit of a warzone, right now.
WATCH_DOGS was definitely the biggest disappointment of the year so far for me. Not even near as good as I expected it to be. Still a pretty decent game, but damn.
But Blige is at RAK for a project that is entirely of the moment, decamping from New York for a creative stint in London that promises to deliver the most innovative and unusual album of her 22-year career.
