Lene Marlin set to return with new album
'Lost In A Moment', Lene Marlin’s third album is scheduled for a 13 June release through EMI.
24 year old singer/songwriter Lene Marlin has surprised everyone, including her record label, by recording an entire album in secret. On a national TV-show on 22 April, Lene Marlin premiered her new single How Would It Be, and the release date for her upcoming album, ‘Lost In A Moment’ has now been officially set to 13 June.
Playing My Game
Lene Marlin experienced a massive breakthrough in 1998/99 with her ‘Playing My Game’ which went double platinum in Norway earning her several Norwegian Grammies and two No. 1 singles, Unforgivable Sinner and Sitting Down Here. The international release was equally as successful, resulting in Unforgivable Sinner reaching top 5 in the UK and No. 1 in several European countries. The album spent 49 weeks in the UK national charts, and accumulated international sales that exceeded 1.3 million copies.
Lene Marlin’s latest album, ‘Another Day’ was released in September 2003. Marlin scored a major hit with that album’s You Weren’t There single.
New album: ‘Lost In A Moment’
“It didn’t start out as an album at all,'' says the 24 year old singer, whose previous albums have gone platinum not only in her native Norway but across much of western Europe, making her one of the hottest properties in contemporary music. ''I originally started working on another project. But it went so well and the songs kept on coming that before I knew, it had grown into an album.''
Teaming up with the famed three-man hit-making production team Stargate (whose past clients include Mariah Carey, Cher and Mary J Blige), Lene also worked in secret at their Trondheim studios.
''Yes, it’s my secret album,'' she laughs. '' You could say it felt like I was making my first record all over again. I didn’t tell anyone about it. My record company didn’t know what I was doing. I wanted some peace and quiet and I didn’t want anyone interfering. I wanted to do it my own way.''
It’s an approach that paid dividends, resulting in a collection of flowing melodies, thoughtful lyrics and some of the most thrilling vocal performances Lene has ever recorded. '' Doing it this way meant I could relax and enjoy working on the songs without any pressure and I think you can hear that on the album,'' she says.
Now - after the four year gap between her first and second albums – the third follows in little more than a year and a half. ''It’s difficult for me because I’m so close to it,'' she says when asked to describe ‘Lost In A Moment’. ''I can’t stand back and review it. But everybody who’s heard it seems to think it sounds very fresh and positive and relaxed and real. That’s because when I was making it there was pure happiness. It seems like a very natural development from the last record.''
Working with Stargate was inspiring, she says. ''They brought so much to the table and they seemed to have an intuitive understanding of what I wanted. We didn’t plan to make an entire album together but we worked so well and the songs kept coming and it just grew.''
''I felt really comfortable making the record with nobody telling me what to do. Whatever I felt like doing, that’s what I did. It’s me at ease. It wasn’t planned but when it happened, it felt so right. I really believe it’s the best record I’ve ever made.''
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