Emeli Sande’s playlist

Emeli Sande’s long-awaited album Long Live the Angels is finally here.

The soul-pop star’s second release was expected back in 2015, but Emeli and her team slowed things down and delayed production to give way to Adele’s new album 25.

Basically, Em shied away from duking it out with Adele for top chart positions, although she would have put up a good fight. The lady beat out Adele before.

Emeli dominated her homeland with her 2012 debut, Our Version of Events, knocking Adele’s 21 out of the no.1 position on the UK’s Top 40 bestselling albums chart.

After finding massive success in Europe, the BRIT Award winner spent the last couple of years introducing herself to North America.

“It was a big adventure,” Emeli says. “North America is huge. It’s like a brand new world, but that’s OK. I’m always trying to find a challenge.”

Amassing a following wasn’t much of a feat. With charmers like her US gold single, “Next to Me,” the North American public barely needed convincing.

Emeli has even made fans out of some of American music’s biggest icons including Alicia Keys.

“I grew up listening to Alicia Keys, so this feeling is quite surreal,” Emeli says.

Jay-Z is another superstar on board Emeli’s fan club. The king of hip hop publicly praised her cover of Beyonce’s Grammy-winning anthem, “Crazy in Love,” featured on the multi-Grammy nominated soundtrack of The Great Gatsby.

“It is such a good feeling to hear about people I respect so highly enjoying my music,” she says, surprised by the fact. “I’m blown away by my fan base.”

A big fan of music herself, Emeli made this playlist of artists she admires. .

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Adele

“Adele has opened doors for many people. I think she reminded everybody that great songs that are honest and raw have a place on the radio. She has switched people on to that and conquered the world.” .

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Frank Ocean

“Frank gets put on repeat a lot, especially ‘Thinking of You.’” .

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Lauryn Hill

“I’ve loved her since I was 12. Lauryn definitely shows people that women can be just as strong as men, and say what they want to say.” .

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Little Dragon

“I really love Little Dragon. Their songs ‘Twice’ and ‘Ritual Union’ are always going round and round.”

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Tinie Tempah

“Tinie Tempah is somebody else who has helped open doors so that UK artists can get international attention and airplay. Now it’s easier to come through.”

Emeli’s new album Long Live the Angels is available on iTunes now. Visit the star’s official site or follow her on twitter and facebook for updates.

Posted by Marc Andrew on Nov 11 2016. Filed under Celebrity Playlist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.