Emma Bunton 'Free Me'
Emma, the artist formerly known as Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton, is ready to prove she can make it on her own.
The seductive "Free Me" -- equal parts '60s pop, Motown and bossa nova -- is Emma's second international full-length. (Her first solo album was not released stateside.) It arrived last February in Britain, where it debuted at No. 7 on the Official U.K. Charts Co. album tally.
The U.S. version, which came out Jan. 25 on 19 Recordings/Universal, includes two bonus tracks (remixes of the title track by Full Intention and Dr. Octavo).
"It's time to see what happens in the U.S.," Emma says. "Sure, I'm nervous. It's now me, front and center. I'm no longer one of five. Still, I am very excited to see what happens in the U.S. It's every U.K. artist's dream to play and make it there."
Emma, who co-wrote 11 of the 12 tracks, is off to a promising start.
The album's lead single -- the title track -- was a top five hit on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart and went top 10 on the Hot Dance Radio Airplay list.
"Emma has been very good to us," says Mike Oaks, program director of Phoenix radio station KNRJ. "The Full Intention remix of 'Free Me' sounds great on our station."
According to 19 Recordings' Larry Braverman, the label is now pushing the tune at top 40 radio. Early supporters include WQSX in Boston and KBIG in Los Angeles. Concurrently, the label is servicing remixes of the second single "Maybe" to club DJs.
While Emma's strength at nondance radio formats remains to be seen, her Internet presence has been steadily increasing on such Web sites as Artist Direct, Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store and AOL.
The five-track "Free Me Digital EP" was available on iTunes the last week in December; it has remained in the site's top 100 pop downloads ever since. At AOL, the video for "Free Me" was streamed more than 360,000 times between Dec. 31 and Jan. 6, making it the fourth-most-played video of that week.
"All this interest in Emma has been encouraging," Braverman adds. "For us, it has been about reintroducing Emma to the 40 million Spice Girls fan base around the world."
Indeed, Emma maintained a busy schedule while on a two-week U.S. promo tour, appearing on "The Early Show," "Live With Regis and Kelly" and "The Tony Danza Show," among others.
Emma, who has enjoyed recent coverage in consumer publications like Jane, Rolling Stone, Blender, Out and FHM, appears on VH1's "I Love the '90s: Part Deux," which premiered Jan. 17. The artist is also a "Hot Spot" pick on http://www.vh1.com.
On the Net:
http://www.emmabuntonofficial.com
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