Strip Me

Background and production

Bedingfield finished recording the album in July 2010. The project's title was unveiled through Bedingfield's official Twitter page on 15 July 2010. She described the album as "be[ing] the next level from what I've already done....It's just more vibrant and exciting. And I can't wait for people to hear it." In an interview with Billboard, Bedingfield said:

"I've titled the album Strip Me because its about stripping down who we are as humans. We're united about our needs, our desires and our pain, all the different things we go through together. Strip Me felt like it explains what the songs are about more than any other title I could think of. So it has a double meaning, but I think people kind of know me enough to know what I mean by it.

The thirteen-track standard edition, the twenty-one track deluxe edition and pre-order bonus track editions of the album were compiled from more than 50 songs which Bedingfield had written since touring. In an interview with PopEater she said "I've been touring for so many years now that I wrote with my live gigs in mind. I wanted to write anthems that people could sing along to – things that were still personal, but definitely trying to find the best way to connect with people." On the album she worked with Andreas Kleerup, John Hill, Wyclef Jean, Salaam Remi, Ryan Tedder, Jonas Myrin, Eg White and Sia Furler. None of the songs worked on with Jean, Remi or Furler made the final track listing, although all of the songs on the final track list were co-written by Bedingfield. Additionally Idolator revealed that Bedingfield had recorded a Ne-Yo-assisted duet titled "The Little Things", which was produced by StarGate, though it was not included on the final pressing either. Bedingfield told fans in December 2010, via a recorded video message, that the album could be released elsewhere in the world later on but for the near present she was focusing on America.

Promotion

Bedingfield's label, Epic Records, outlined plans for the artist to tour in the second half of 2010, in support of the album. However, in September 2010, Billboard revealed that Bedingfield's tour plans were shifted back into 2011 though no dates were confirmed. Additionally, the singer announced "Touch" will be used in TV commercials for NIVEA skin care. Album track "Can't Fall Down" was exclusively streamed via Billboard's official website on 3 December 2010. Meanwhile, another song from the album, "Weightless", was made available to stream on E! Online's website. Bedingfield promoted the album with performances of the album's title song on The Today Show on 7 December, LIVE! with Regis and Kelly on 8 December, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 9 December 2010 as well as appearances on Chelsea Lately and Rachel Ray. She was also announced on the line-up for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve concert hosted by Ryan Seacrest. According to AOL online, Bedingfield also signed a promotion deal with Hotel Indigo which would see cross promotion of the hotel chain and album. In January 2011, Bedingfield was invited to the head offices of Rolling Stone magazine, where she performed "Pocketful of Sunshine", "Soulmate" and "Strip Me". To promote the album, Bedingfield announced her Less is More Tour, which began on 5 June and included 29 US cities. The deluxe version of Strip Me subsequently featured several audio and video recordings from the Less is More Tour dates.

Both "Strip Me" and "A Little Too Much" became official theme songs for recent films Morning Glory and Something Borrowed respectively, being featured in both the trailers and in the films' ending credits. "Neon Lights" was featured in the ending credits of the 2011 film What's Your Number?.

Singles

"Touch" was unveiled as the album's lead single. The up-tempo song was written by Bedingfield, Julien Bunetta and Steve Kipner, and produced by Bunetta and Kipner, It was released to the iTunes Store on 18 May 2010. Additionally it was sent to US Mainstream radio stations on 29 June 2010. The song peaked on the Canadian Hot 100 at number sixty. However, it was later declared a buzz single by Bedingfield's official website and the album's title track revealed as the replacement lead single. "Strip Me" was released to Mainstream radio stations on 31 August 2010 and digital download on 21 September 2010. "Strip Me" was moderately more successful, reaching number sixty-five in Canada and number ninety-one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Critical reception

Strip Me received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 4 reviews. Mikael Wood of Entertainment Weekly gave Strip Me a C rating and wrote that it "plays like one long, increasingly desperate pep talk. The only breather? 'Unexpected Hero,' a lovely late-Beatles-style ballad." AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted the album for "retaining [the] same blend of well-manicured R&B and European sophistication" of Bedingfield's debut album and commented that she "plays it exceptionally safe, to the extent that she even tones down the self-empowerment of her first two records, preferring pristine blue-eyed soul and adult contemporary ballads, all tailored for an aspirational upscale lifestyle". Slant magazine's Jonathon Keefe found it "single-minded in its uplifting, inspirational tone", writing in conclusion that "Bedingfield uses her powerful voice to oversing most of her material, making Strip Me feel like even more of a sermon. It may not be the year's worst pop album, but it might just be the most exhausting and heavy-handed."

Commercial performance

Strip Me was originally due to be released on 9 November 2010; however, it was pushed back to 7 December 2010. It's Bedingfield's third album to be released in the United States and Canada and the second release by Bedingfield to be released exclusively in these territories, following in the footsteps of 2008's Pocketful of Sunshine. On 16 December 2010, the album made its US Billboard 200 chart debut at number 103, having sold just under 10,000 copies. It was a significant decline compared to Pocketful of Sunshine (2008), which debuted at number three having sold 50,000 copies. It remained in the top 200 for just its opening week; however, it re-appeared in 2011, on 15 January, at number 157.

Strip Me Away

In international territories, Strip Me was released under the title Strip Me Away, with an amended track listing.

Sample credits

Personnel

Taken from Barnes & Noble.