Lea Michele launches first single of sophomore record
Lea Michele rose to fame as Rachel Berry in the successful tv musical series Glee. For a handful of seasons, Michele recorded all kinds of covers for the show, but in 2014 it was time for her to show her own music, when she released debut record Louder, including tracks by pop songwriters like Sia and Tove Lo. Michele took her time to find out what she really wanted to make as a solo artist and after a few roles on Broadway, she is about to release her second record Places. No date has been confirmed yet, but she now drops the first single, ‘Love Is Alive’.

While Michele looks back with mixed feelings on her poppy debut record, she tells Billboard about the upcoming second album: “This is a vocal album, and there are definitely love songs in there, but there’s also a sense of freedom. I went back and listened to all of the divas that I loved, and tried to find how that music resonates for me, in 2017.” The title Places is taken from the phrase used on Broadway to get all the actors in the right position just before the curtain rises.

Listening to ‘Love Is Alive’ it immediately becomes clear that her new music is way more inspired by both theatre and her idols. In comparison to the stunning but trend chasing ‘Cannonball’, the Sia-penned first single of Louder, the new track is a lot more traditional. It is a proper ballad, mostly based on piano which later is joined by an orchestra of strings. Lea delivers some serious big diva vocals and the chorus of the track soars beautifully. This is absolutely not in touch with what is hot in the charts at the moment, but that seems to be the exact point. Michele decided to explore her own sound on this record, for which I’m sure will be a market as well. Sonically, ‘Love Is Alive’ probably comes closest to a Céline Dion track, which Michele without a doubt would take as a compliment. You do you Lea, I’m looking forward to hearing the live performances for this era, as this type of song truly comes alive when performed live.