Emmelie de Forest, the Danisch winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, recently visited Los Angeles in the United States.
She went there to record a couple of songs for her upcoming new album, and to have a meeting with top-producer David Foster. Los Angeles proved to be not only a musical source of inspiration, but the City of Angels also stole Emmelie’s heart.
Emmelie de Forest went to Los Angeles for three weeks in October. The Danish artist is working on new material for an upcoming album, and the music industry in bustling Los Angeles was the right place to be, fitting Emmelie’s musical passion, ingenuity and strive for perfection. As the singer explains in an interview with Maria Haarbye Pedersen from Danish broadcaster DR:
I went to LA because that’s where the action is. I would write songs, do recordings and hold meetings with the music industry. It was really interesting, but it was also thrilling to sit opposite of such great people within the music industry. It was wild for me to meet producer David Foster. He is quite a legend and has worked with great singers such as Withney Houston, and it was he who established Céline Dion, after she had won Eurovision.
Emmelie de Forest, very excited and happy, reveals more details about her meeting with producer David Foster:
David has a huge grand piano, which is always accompanied by a microphone, and he has a very high desk. In between I was sitting on a small chair, and felt tiny compared to him. But he is incredibly sweet and warm and has lots of humor. We jammed on three songs together. It was so cool, and we have decided to keep in touch. So now I have promised him that I will send some songs every month, jokingly saying that they shall not be super good before I send them off.
Music was not the only thing that inspired Emmelie while she was staying in LA. The city itself, the sunshine, the breeze: everything fell in place for the singer, making her feel good and connecting with the new personal direction she wants to take with her songwriting:
Everything is just so huge. In LA it’s all very scattered, and everything looks different. There are exotic palms, strange houses and everything is done by car. In the beginning, I always think: ‘Oh, I could never stay here!’, but when I’ve been there for a week, it will feel like home. I was actually quite depressed when I came to Denmark again because over here it’s so cold.
You become very inspired in LA, this is where the heart of the music industry is. I dream of getting a record deal over there. But I can understand the producers who say that one must stay there to make the cooperation easier. I have also considered moving to LA, and I would like to do that, but it’s a big step, so I need to find out everything in advance.
Emmelie is back in her homecountry Denmark now. Although she is working vigorously on new material, there is no release date for the new album as yet. The artist does not want to rush things, as she is working on more personal songs, and wants to get everything just perfect:
I want to develop myself with my new album, while I also retain some of the roots that I have. So what you will hear on my new record is something different, but people who are a fan of Only Teardrops, Rainmaker and the Copenhagen Drummers will still like it and see the common thread. The main thing is that I do not stress with it as I did with my first album. It really needs to be perfect before anything comes out.
I’ve written 51 songs in the past year, and I think that there are at least 10 to 15 songs that are really strong for an album. On the first record I was very inspired by books and movies and songs were not so personal. My single Drunk Tonight was based on a personal experience, and it is precisely that personal touch that I wish to be reflected on my new album.
Emmelie de Forest (Randers, 1993) is a Danisch singer-songwriter. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, with the song Only Teardrops, earning a total of 281 points.
