American Idol winner Fantasia will grace the NYCB Theatre at Westbury stage Saturday, Aug. 30. The self proclaimed “soul singer” will perform hits off her latest album, “Side Effects of You.”
At first listen, “Side Effects of You” might sound like an album about heartbreak and the process of piecing oneself back together. That’s true, in part, but there’s much more there. While the Grammy-winning singer has certainly enjoyed chart-topping, triple-platinum and multi-platform success since winning season three of American Idol, she, like everybody, has made some mistakes, too. Though she has never shied away from being transparent in her music, she wasn’t necessarily thinking about putting her words into song when she picked up a pen and her blank notebook two years ago.
“When I started writing in my book, I had a bittersweet taste in my mouth,” Fantasia says of how she was feeling — professionally, personally, emotionally — after putting in a decade’s worth of hard work. “I’d been doing one-off shows and not really recording, but when my doctor put me on bed rest, I decided to use that time to start writing down some of the things that were on my mind. If I was able to get to the grocery store, people would stop me and tell me what they were going through, so I wrote about that, too.”
It was only after she met (and vibed with) London-bred producer, Harmony Samuels, that she realized it might be time to get back in the studio. With her trusted notebook by her side, she would eventually co-write seven of the 13 songs that comprise “Side Effects of You.”
Crafting her fourth album was like a dream come true for Fantasia as she made it her mission to tap into the music that has inspired her over the years. “When I was growing up, we listened to so many different types of music in my house,” she remembers. “It started with gospel and then the blues because my grandfather loved B.B. King. Of course I loved listening to my girls Monica, Brandy, TLC and SWV, but I also played Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, Bonnie Raitt and Queen. You can listen to any of those artists today because their music still stands and that’s what I wanted to do with this project. I want my music to be timeless.”
“I know that every artist says that their albums are like their babies, but Side Effects of You really is my baby,” Fantasia says. “Besides the music, this album means so much to me because it represents the amazing creative relationships I made and the thoughts and ideas that were spoken into my life during the recording process. This project came together right in the nick of time.”
—From www.fantasiaofficial.com
