Donna Lewis

The arrival of Donna Lewis was one of 1996’s great pop events. The Welsh-born singer/songwriter’s irresistible chart-topper “I Love You Always Forever” was an international sensation, breaking sales and airplay records worldwide. Of course, striking this kind of gold on your first swing can present a bit of a challenge for an artist with greater goals than simple success.

“I sometimes think I still have to prove myself,” Donna says. “This time around, I felt I had to try that much harder.”

Well, Lewis’ second Atlantic album, ” BLUE PLANET” the highly-anticipated follow-up to 1996’s RIAA-platinum debut, “NOW IN A MINUTE” is indeed a great leap forward. Within the breadth of its musical and emotional diversity, the self-produced “BLUE PLANET” displays Donna’s continuing growth as both an artist and a person.

“I’m not just a pop singer,” she rightly points out. “I think this album is quite diverse. It shows a lot of depth.”

After the mega-success of “I Love You Always Forever,” one would’ve expected Donna to treat herself to some well deserved time off. Instead, she spent much of late ’97 and early ’98 hard at work recording an all-new collection of songs at her home studio, located in a bucolic setting just north of Dublin, Ireland.

“I wanted to be nearer to my Celtic roots and my family,” Lewis says of her move to Eire. “It’s a beautiful place, about half-an-hour drive from Dublin. It’s a little peninsula on the coast, and it’s just wonderful. I managed to find this cliff-top house, which overlooks Dublin bay. I really wanted to be in a space where I had a wonderful view of the sea. To be able to step outside and go for walks along the cliffs is great. I find this very inspirational.”

The main room of the house was converted into a recording space, complete with grand piano and all the accouterments of a studio. The convenience gave Lewis the freedom to record her ideas at any time of day or night.

“I didn’t really want to go into a commercial studio to record,” she says, “Before I got signed, I used to write my songs and record them myself at home. Often the first time you record a new idea, it’s magical. That was my intention this time around. I made sure that I had a great studio set-up so that I could keep the first takes if I wanted to.”

While “NOW IN A MINUTE” saw Donna co-producing with Kevin Killen (Elvis Costello, Paula Cole), “BLUE PLANET” finds the artist in complete control of the recording. Though she certainly knew her way around the studio, Donna was not without some trepidation.

“I remember people saying to me that I should produce my first album myself,” she says. “At the time I thought, ‘Oh my God, I can’t do that,’ but this time I just felt that I could do it. It’s a little scary when you first start out because there are so many other things involved, organizing the whole project, musicians, etcetera.”

Many of the songs on “BLUE PLANET” were inspired by the incredible landscape surrounding her Dublin residence. As a composer and lyricist, Lewis found that the verdant surroundings moved her in such a way that the loveliness of her environment found its way into her words and music.

“I think in the last two years I’ve really come back to nature,” Lewis says. “Before that, I always lived in cities. In between traveling, I love being able to come back to this beautiful location. I think songs like ‘Beauty and Wonder’ and ‘Blue Planet,’ reflect this.”

The expansive musical range to be found on “BLUE PLANET” is frankly astonishing. The album is marked by a heavenly pop sound born of rich keyboard textures, atmospheric guitars, insidiously catchy rhythms and, of course, Donna’s distinctive vocalizing. Lewis’ aural adventure takes listeners on a sometimes joyous, often poignant journey, from the sparse soul of “Falling,” to the ethereal title track through to the rhythmic funk of “Beauty and Wonder.” The first single “Love Him” is a gently uplifting ballad with Lewis’ trademark voice lilting over a soft bed of piano and lulling rhythmns.

An accomplished pianist, Donna plays keyboards throughout “BLUE PLANET,” and is joined by a core band comprised of guitarist Gerry Leonard (Paula Cole, Laurie Anderson, Jonatha Brooke) and bassist Tony Franklin (Jimmy Page, The Firm), both of whom appeared on “NOW IN THE MINUTE,” and drummer Ralph Salmins (Bjork, Van Morrison, Everything But The Girl). The album also features drum loops programmed by David Lowe and Paul Waller, as well as cameo appearances from guitarist Jimmy Smith and legendary session keyboardist David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Zucchero). In addition, the tracks “Take Me Home” and “Falling” find Lewis backed by the celestial strings of the London Session Orchestra.

“What I tried to do on this record was use less synthetic sounds,” Lewis says. “The keyboards played a much more secondary role this time.”

Considering the highly cinematic quality of her songs, it’s not surprising that among Lewis’ goals for the future is an increased focus on creating music for films. The new album’s “Take Me Home” was originally written for 20th Century Fox’s 1997 animated feature film, Anastasia (though Donna ultimately sang a duet on the pic’s hit love theme, “At The Beginning,” which was penned by the film’s composers).

Donna’s more immediate plan is to bring the songs on ” BLUE PLANET” to life via live performances. She did an extensive worldwide promo tour to promote “NOW IN A MINUTE,” as well as a small number of live shows which only served to whet her appetite for a full-scale concert tour.

“I’m putting the band together now,” an excited Donna says. In its transcendent use of melody and chorus, not to mention themes of life, love and spirit, the songs of ” BLUE PLANET” hark back to the timeless pop of such legends as Burt Bacharach, Carole King, and Elton John. Like those artists, Donna Lewis also knows the secret to writing songs that touch the hearts of millions.

“When you have a hit like ‘I Love You Always Forever,’ the biggest mistake is to think, ‘I have to write another song like that,’” she muses. “I mean, you just never ever think like that. You just write what’s in your heart and hopefully someone out there will like it.”

* * * * *

Born in Cardiff, Wales, Donna Lewis began studying piano at the tender age of six. By her 14th birthday, she had begun writing songs, recording them on a portable cassette recorder. Her father’s love of jazz was a major influence, as were the songs of such idiosyncratic pop tunesmiths as Prince and Rickie Lee Jones.

She studied classical composition at the Welsh College of Music and Drama, majoring in piano and flute, while continuing to flex her songwriting muscles. After graduation, Donna began to think about a career in music, joining a number of cover bands who toured the UK and Germany. Another move brought her to Birmingham, England where she set up her first home studio, replete with simple four-track recorder, a DX7 keyboard, a drum machine and a mic. Her home recordings kept her busy during the day while evenings found her performing solo at piano bars across Great Britain and the Continent. In addition to covers by faves like Van Morrison and Kate Bush, Lewis also performed a number of her own songs.

By 1990 the studio had expanded to include an eight-track recorder as well as an ever-increasing bank of synthesizers and sequencers. As she found her way in the studio, the singer/songwriter began to find her musical voice, a textured-yet-traditional pop sound marked by distinct moods and Lewis’ velvet vocals. In 1993 Lewis began to pursue a record deal with the idea that her music should be heard by the people and soon was inked to Atlantic.

The resulting “NOW IN A MINUTE” was a global phenomenon, with hit singles including “Without Love” and, of course, “I Love You Always Forever.” The album racked up huge sales and unabashed critical acclaim. “I Love You Always Forever” was the first single ever to exceed one million airplay detections in the US alone, the delightfully catchy tune was an unqualified smash around the globe, topping the chart in Canada, Austria, Venezuela, Switzerland, France, Germany, and South Africa, and reaching the top five in the UK, Australia, Israel, Norway, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Mexico.

Lewis’ success is particularly noteworthy because the song became a runaway smash without any marketing perks, Billboard declared. “No movie or soundtrack presence; no momentum from previous hits; no exposure via the Olympics, the Oscars, the soaps or the like. Simply, “I Love You Always Forever” hit on its own merits… Simplicity, sincerity, and an irresistible hook. Plus, there is the repeatedly cited variable known as ‘magic.’

Among the numerous honors Lewis received during 1996 and 1997, the singer/songwriter was nominated for an American Music Award in the pop/rock ‘Favorite New Artist’ category and was ranked by Billboard magazine as the #6 top new pop artist of 1996. The magazine also placed Lewis among the top ‘Billboard 200’ female artists of the year, #7 on the list of the year’s ‘Hot 100’ female singles artists, and in the top 20 among the year’s ‘Hot 100’ singles artists overall.

It was a remarkable beginning for a remarkable artist. Still, it’s only the beginning…