Post by davidhr on Mar 1, 2009 13:10:18 GMT -5
As noted by Bev in another post, Lara left a new message on her website this week informing her fans that the new album had been delayed even further, to the beginning of June. Even Lara had some trouble putting a positive spin on this latest development. From her comments, which included an indication that the mixing of the album was now in progress, the delay does not seem to be technical but more likely a business decision. She called it ‘unpredictable problems’. We know that record companies, like many others, are in a difficult financial position, and this may be an example of that, although how delaying the album helps is not obvious. A June release date in France is a death-knell (see ‘A Wonderful Life’), as people leave for vacation. With the continued delays, it leads to the suspicion that Universal may be trying to bury the album.
It is possible that this is an overreaction. On Hezia’s site it was discussed that Maurane had wanted an earlier release for her latest album (an homage to Nougaro) than the scheduled May 12th date – and when it wasn’t forthcoming, she herself decided to postpone it until late August to avoid the summer doldrums. So record company issues seem to be affecting artists other than Lara. And Cecile on the same site reminded fans that some of Lara’s previous albums have also experienced repeated delays (in the case of her first English album, even longer than this one). And there is another point of view entirely: some fans have concluded that Lara is being super careful/innovative and requiring the extra time to produce the best possible, surprising album. At the very least, perhaps she can do that, making a virtue of necessity. But given Maurane’s decision, and Lara’s experience in the field, why is Lara acceding to this decision?
Perhaps in response to the unfortunate timing, Lara indicated that promotions will come sooner than June. How this will happen is not obvious. In the past Lara has been extremely reluctant to sing any of her new songs before the CD release, with the explanation that the first impression of a song should be the best possible one (i.e., the studio version). She’s given concerts two weeks before a new album was about to appear without singing any of the new songs (as in the case of ‘A Wonderful Life’). Will she lip-synch to the recorded songs before people can get the album? – that would allow people to tape them and make them available free of charge on the web. It is likely that the album’s appearance will be preceded by the release of a new single, and if one is ready, that could conceivably happen as early as April.
Another interesting component of Lara’s new message is what is not mentioned. No longer is there any talk of her “Rights of Women” show originally scheduled for March, nor does she herself comment on the rumored Belgian TV production also reported to be in the works for this month. There has also been no further word about the French TF1 ‘duos’ appearance, which nevertheless may be on more solid ground than those others. Perhaps that show will be broadcast about the time of the new album, becoming a fortuitous promotion.
Hopefully given its substantial nature this will be the end of the delays – if not, perhaps the very release itself may be in doubt. One thing it does do, however, is remove an oddity that had been on Lara’s schedule – the tour supporting the album had been reported to begin in the fall of 2009, which would have been 10 months after the original release date, an absurdly long delay. At this point Lara will be lucky to have the album out before the (still unscheduled) tour is due to start. And Lara does continue to indicate there will be a tour (let’s hope this too turns out to be more than just wishful thinking). While she seems enthusiastic about the quality of the upcoming album, overall this must be an uncertain time for her, and the tone of her message suggests that she is worried about the continued allegiance of her fans. That concern seems justified; both on the official site and the several others still in operation, messages have dwindled to a handful.
David
It is possible that this is an overreaction. On Hezia’s site it was discussed that Maurane had wanted an earlier release for her latest album (an homage to Nougaro) than the scheduled May 12th date – and when it wasn’t forthcoming, she herself decided to postpone it until late August to avoid the summer doldrums. So record company issues seem to be affecting artists other than Lara. And Cecile on the same site reminded fans that some of Lara’s previous albums have also experienced repeated delays (in the case of her first English album, even longer than this one). And there is another point of view entirely: some fans have concluded that Lara is being super careful/innovative and requiring the extra time to produce the best possible, surprising album. At the very least, perhaps she can do that, making a virtue of necessity. But given Maurane’s decision, and Lara’s experience in the field, why is Lara acceding to this decision?
Perhaps in response to the unfortunate timing, Lara indicated that promotions will come sooner than June. How this will happen is not obvious. In the past Lara has been extremely reluctant to sing any of her new songs before the CD release, with the explanation that the first impression of a song should be the best possible one (i.e., the studio version). She’s given concerts two weeks before a new album was about to appear without singing any of the new songs (as in the case of ‘A Wonderful Life’). Will she lip-synch to the recorded songs before people can get the album? – that would allow people to tape them and make them available free of charge on the web. It is likely that the album’s appearance will be preceded by the release of a new single, and if one is ready, that could conceivably happen as early as April.
Another interesting component of Lara’s new message is what is not mentioned. No longer is there any talk of her “Rights of Women” show originally scheduled for March, nor does she herself comment on the rumored Belgian TV production also reported to be in the works for this month. There has also been no further word about the French TF1 ‘duos’ appearance, which nevertheless may be on more solid ground than those others. Perhaps that show will be broadcast about the time of the new album, becoming a fortuitous promotion.
Hopefully given its substantial nature this will be the end of the delays – if not, perhaps the very release itself may be in doubt. One thing it does do, however, is remove an oddity that had been on Lara’s schedule – the tour supporting the album had been reported to begin in the fall of 2009, which would have been 10 months after the original release date, an absurdly long delay. At this point Lara will be lucky to have the album out before the (still unscheduled) tour is due to start. And Lara does continue to indicate there will be a tour (let’s hope this too turns out to be more than just wishful thinking). While she seems enthusiastic about the quality of the upcoming album, overall this must be an uncertain time for her, and the tone of her message suggests that she is worried about the continued allegiance of her fans. That concern seems justified; both on the official site and the several others still in operation, messages have dwindled to a handful.
David