Veteran singer-songwriter Goapele is prepping the release of her fifth studio album, Strong as Glass, the follow-up to 2011’s Break of Dawn. Led by the groovy, up-tempo single “Hey Boy,” the project will continue to showcase the Oakland-based songstress’ growth and diverse musicality. Now, with a new label partnership with Eric Benet, and a vision to stay unique, Singersroom chopped it up with Goapele about the upcoming album, what she was up to during her hiatus, her longevity and more.
Watch the video interview about and/or read excerpts from the interview below:
Life Since Last Album: Since Break of Dawn, I never really stopped recording, so I’ve been in and out of the studio, and it’s been leading up to this album that’s coming out. Also, I’ve been doing shows here and there to kind of touchdown with my fans and not leave them lovely for too long, and I’ve been living my life, spending time with my family as well as trying to expand into other creative worlds; getting more into film and fashion.
Partnering With Eric Benet’s Jordan House: With every album I’ve done since the beginning when we first put out my music on Skyblaze Recordings, my family label, It’s always about looking for the right partnership, so there has been a whole bunch of reincarnations of that and for this album, Strong as Glass, I was just looking for the right partner and really also wanting to take my music to the next level. I met with Eric, we would see each other loosely in the music world, did a couple shows together, and we were wondering how to collaborate, and he said he was starting his own label, Jordan House, and wanted to work with artists that already had a fan base and a strong vision, so it seemed like a nice meeting ground for us.
Working with Eric Benet in The Studio: It’s been really fun working with Eric Benet in the studio, I feel like he has way more of a sense of humor that I expected, and also we can have fun and it’s nice to get to balance ideas off of him.
Direction of Strong as Glass: As an album, I feel like it’s strong, it’s vulnerable; it’s the mind, heart and soul of a woman from different perspectives. From feeling empowered, from questioning love, being excited about love, just the whole emotional rainbow. I feel like each song is solid and has its own story to it… Some of it is my story and some of it are reflections of other people also.
Treasuring Longevity: What I treasure most about my longevity, my music career, and every time I step out on stage is looking out into the audience and getting to see the direct impact that my music has on other people. I value hearing people’s stories and hearing what kind of transformation they’ve made in their own lives and maybe how my music has been in that soundtrack in the in lives.
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