Free Me (album)

Background

The album was the second to follow her 2001 release, A Girl Like Me, and spent over twelve weeks inside the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number seven and selling over 141,712 copies, earning gold award status.

Singles

The lead single, "Free Me", was released in the spring of 2003. The song immediately picked up airplay, and the single sold well in the UK, peaking at number five on the UK Singles Chart. "Maybe" was released as the second single in the autumn of 2003, and also gained extensive airplay throughout the UK, peaking at number six.

In the spring of 2004, the album and its third single, "I'll Be There", were released. The single, like its two predecessors, performed well on the charts, peaking at number seven. The album sold more copies in its first week than her debut solo record had, and would ultimately go on to outsell it by 25,000 copies. With this, Bunton became the only Spice Girls member to have sold more copies of her second album than her first in UK.

Later in the year, the fourth single, "Crickets Sing for Anamaria", was released. The song only came in at number fifteen on the UK Singles Chart, totalling 25,000 copies .

In the United States, both "Free Me" and "Maybe" were dance club regulars, reaching number four and number six on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play respectively.

Sound and composition

The album was largely produced by Mike Peden and Yak Bondy, who have produced tracks for S Club 7 and Lucie Silvas, to name a few. Other contributions on the album courtesy of Cathy Dennis, Henry Binns, and Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi. The album was released via 19 Recordings, which is a division of 19 Management, the company owned by Simon Fuller. Bunton says of the inspiration behind the album: "I've been listening to Motown since I was about five, and just loving it, being very passionate about the fact how it was all done live, and I thought, 'Hold on, I always talk about the fact I love '60s and Motown', so I thought I'd take elements of it, bits of it, and put it into my album, so that's exactly what I did." However, Bunton's songs on this album mainly started life as a simple scribble. She says, "I have a little book beside my bed, where I put all my ideas for songs and stuff. It's kind of weird, 'cuz usually when I'm having a dream, I'll wake up, and I'll write something down, then I'll look at it again and think, 'God, what was I dreaming about?'"

Critical reception

The album was acclaimed by critics for its catchy and fun use of sounds from the Motown and the 1960s era. The BBC says the album is "light and frothy, like a good cappuccino, but this time it's with the sugar taken out". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave a positive review saying, "This music is stylish without being flashy, thanks in large part to the charmingly tuneful, sturdy songs (all but one bearing a writing credit from Emma). While Bunton may still have a small, sweet voice, she's developed a stronger presence on record, giving this album not just a face, but a fetching persona that's hard to resist."

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Free Me.

Additional recordings