After a hiatus that has lasted just under a decade, underappreciate R&B singer Amerie is returning with a double-LP. She spoke with Billboard about her plans for the project in an interview published this afternoon. Her breakout "1 Thing" has long been her calling card since fading out of public view, the song thus appearing as a mashable entity in plenty of party-sampler mixes.
After completing her 2009 album In Love & War, she soon grew disillusioned with the recording industry and chose instead to busy herself motherhood, and a second career as a New York Times' Best-Selling author. She credits her experience writing young-adult stories with helping her become a faster and more concise songwriter.
Part of the reason Amerie grew disinterested in her "big label" is that she wasn't passionate about the agenda that came next, after the recording process. "Recording music, getting together with the label, putting together a marketing plan, then you shoot the videos. Everything’s so far in advance. I always felt that once I finished the recording process and it was done, I was over it," she told Jeff Benjamin over at Billboard.
Tomorrow, Amerie will unveil 4AM Mulholland and After 4AM, two sides to a dual project she has chosen to publish independently. The double-album is being described as an unconventional body of work that explores "more subdued, cavernous R&B and trance-laced productions." Keep it locked for the drop.