Oh yeah don't worry, your post was a perfect way to start my post

BIB: then you're talking somehow about charts though. For her as an artist she wants to make a statement by releasing meaningful songs. It doesn't matter to her where they chart, but she released them.

Edit: this might be one of the reasons why they had troubles finding the right lead single

How many plays yesterday and how many off #32?

Yesterday she had 17spins, today 13. About 47 from #33

It basically is lol, just without a video 😂 & I don't think they are going to invest in it as a single because it's not really an album seller in itself but more a song that would be a hit.

I'm so happy with this ! It just goes to show that Island really are covering all the bases and are being proactive in trying to ensure people know Leona's back. It's quite a smart move to put up thunder, FUMF , I Am and ALS before the album because it shows how varied the album is rather than just putting up Thank You, Thunder and YKMW; or Ladders, IGY and ALS.

Capital & Heart Next !! 😁

Universal Japan announced the Japanese tracklisting yesterday, no new songs on it but they have included the Endor Remix

http://www.universal-music.co.jp/leo...ews/2015/08/14

Leona is not an album seller anymore...she sold around 1 000 000 copies of her albums in UK since early 2009. (Echo with 640 000 in above mentioned 1 000 000) ..... this decade she sold less than 300 000 albums (in 5 years) ... I think she has more chance for good album sales with decent top40 uptempo single than with boring flop ballad/mid tempo that doesn't go anywhere (I Am, Trouble, Thunder)
Or maybe she has a loyal small fanbase and album sales would be the same after interesting top40 uptempo/midtempo or flop balad/midtempo but its better to have mediocre album sales with top40single than mediocre album sales with flop single (boring balad)

She needs something interesting for a start of this era, Thunder and I Am performance wont do anything for her.....she needs something to capture general public interest if she wants to start a tour early 2016...Power, ALS, IGY2, Ladders need to be performed during album promo

So if I understand that correctly, they planned Ladders and ALS to be singles before she got her deal with DefJam..?

I mean, she can make a statement to everyone who buy the album, but she needs someone to hear it first and many people might not buy it after singles underperforming like that.
I think the best strategy was to release ALS/Ladders first, it was summer after all and it would get airplay for sure. Not sure bout Ladders, just judging by the LQ performance, but ALS is an instant hit, the sound of it is exactly what at least UK love. Then with a hit behind her and secured airplay, they could release that statement song they were craving for. I believe FUMF would have done really well and it would be a perfect lead for the album release as it's more crossover, so it would get more airplay from AC stations, whose listeners buy albums (Radio 2), which happened anyways but too early.

I think it's such a bad idea to release I Am now, I can't see it do anything for Leona. But on the other hand, they can't really save the situation now IMO, if they released ALS she would get a hit, but the album may not sell that well. If no one knows it's out though, people not gonna buy it anyways, with ALS becoming a hit, people would know she has album coming out atleast.

Her comeback was the perfect moment to make her statement, however it didn't go fully as planned but that didn't matter to her. The message was out, it was in tons of articles and she did interviews on lots of radio stations, talking about it.

I think she had her DefJam deal already, I'm not sure. But they certainly didn't want Leona to be another puppet so the fact she fought to have FUMF as first single it made DJ jump on board with the whole project. Because it proves Leona is an artist that wants to connect with fans.

I Am is already released and play-listed. Is it possible to release two songs at once, IDK?

TBH I still much prefer FUMF, Thunder, EoM & I Am to ALS, but then I think the majority of the chart is filled with rubbish so I am probably not the target audience of that song (still love it, just not nearly as much.)

I am pleased they made a statement and didn't make commercial success the first aim. In the long run this will be better for Leona. Add to that I think Leona needs to reconnect with her fan base (she has spoken lots about reaching people with and by meaningful lyrics) and I don't think ALS would appeal to many of those who love and listen to Spirit, even if this sound is part of Leona who has many musical sides . Diversity bunny 😍

Leona will always be more of an album seller than a singles artist, especially as she's now with Island who are purely a album selling label - Will Young, Brandon Flowers, Jessie Ware, Florence have all done well with their albums, but when was the last time they had success with a single? Florence's last Top 20 single was three years ago and that was thanks to a Calvin Harris remix, Brandon's was 2010, Will's was 2011 and Jessie has never had a Top 20 single.

Each one of those artists hasn't had a hit single in their latest eras yet their albums sell consistently well, they tour extensively and they continue to pump out singles/videos regardless of how well their last single performed. ALS wouldn't work as a single at this point as Leona is tainted by FUMF flopping etc. and generally uptempos do not help sell albums, just look at people like Cheryl or Jason Derulo...

I Am is a great track to lead the album with. The single won't go Top 40, or even go silver but it caters more towards the casual album buying public than ALS or IGY would i.e. the typical R2 listener. Also, most artists will struggle to sell a million albums in this climate, album sales are at an all time low so you can't compare with healthier sales of 6+ years ago, regardless of Leona's success at the time.

Once the album is out, I'm certain they'll push YKMW as a winter single as ballads usually fair better around that time, especially if she gets some big promo slots. Then in early 2016 I'm assuming they'll push a more uptempo song like IGY, it's at this point where we might get a hit this era, unless radios definitely get behind YKMW.

I truly believe in FUMF potentional and I think it's great she's fully doing what she wants to do. I just think FUMF would work better as an album lead, so if they were going for two songs before album release, it wasn't really good idea IMO.
Success isn't the most important thing for me either, I definitely don't need monster hit like BL, but I would love her to have a long career and that might not happen if the album doesn't sell well.
Nothing is lost though, Thunder could really take off, in the end Americans seem to love empowering stuff, it worked many times (Roar, Firework, Fight Song.....) so why not for Leona with an amazing song like Thunder


I was thinking that too, if they could send ALS to mainstream radio and I Am to AC radio But I guess UK is too small for this, thing like that may only work in US.
My favourite song of this album is still propably FUMF, but that doesn't make me think it's the best single choice. From what we have heard, ALS has the best shot to become a hit in UK IMO.

There's no way ALS is becoming a hit.
Its weak


Weaker than Lovebird in my ears

ALS has 82k on Spotify. Coming for I Am in just 2 days

Deciding what's hit don't depend on your ears though. Just take a look at recent UK hits to give yourself more prespective

Get to work guys! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfYC...letBbJ&index=2 Here's an endless loop of Thunder. The views are still super low, we need to do something about it.

You need to clean your ears then!

Where is the source of this inside news?

In my mailbox

If this is true, then I am really disappointed. "Ladders" and "Another Love Song" are MUCH stronger single material than "Fire Under My Feet" and "I Am". In no way shape or form would she be a "puppet" for releasing those 2 songs, as the album is all her and she wasn't forced to record them or anything. If they wanted to make a statement, they could just do that with the album rather than releasing statement songs.

"Ladders" and "Another Love Song" could have helped Leona get back on radio and get support from them and then release "You Knew Me When" as the big ballad single in Q4 to really push album sales. And the statement "Leona isn't an artist that wants to make a comeback with a dance tune so she'll chart high" is a meaningless statement. What's the point in recording dance/uptempo material then? Leona NEEDS to release more uptempo stuff to show versatility and get radio back on board so they'll support her big ballads etc. Leona wants to share her music with as many people possible and that can happen by releasing stronger singles.... Urgh I am so disappointed if this is all true. Even if they release "Ladders" and "Another Love Song" later one, they'll really need to promote them hard to get radio on board now given how "Fire Under My Feet" flopped and "I Am" is likely not to even make the top 75.

Like I've said, she does love those songs hence she recorded it but she apparently didn't want to comeback with some dance tune.

The whole concept of this album is breaking free from her previous label and being empowered. She wrote a letter and she wanted to start the era with the song that described her situation the most. There has been lots of articles when she wrote that letter and when she left Syco. Then there were many interviews with radios and articles about her leaving Syco as that's what FUMF was all about.

Oh well... I don't know what to think...
YKMW could be the only song to save the era to make Leona popular again, at least if she become the ballad queen of US. Then she could go with IGY, Ladders n ALS.

That's amazing :O

"Ladders" is about the label too and is an empowering/uplifting song.

I'm quite frankly annoyed now. Time and time again the single choices/release are bad. It would've been better to have strong radio support to sell the album and make the statement with the album rather than the singles. Now she's looking at getting no commercial radio support for her singles and will mainly rely on the likes of BBC Radio 2/Magic fm. I was really hopeful the album would be able to go platinum, but I think that's a big stretch now and am hoping it'll go gold. Unless of course things somehow turn around and they label manage to get themselves a big hit on their hands (If "You Knew Me When" is realy that good, one big performance could get the ball rolling with it).

Ladders is more about highs and lows whereas FUMF perfectly describes what she has been through and how she wanted to get out of there.

Anyway, no point arguing about it. It's how Leona wants it and she's completely fine with it. It's not like the era stops in September. We've already had 3 singles, their will be 5 instagrats which one of them is sent to radios to attract a different audience.
There's so much more to come.