Emeli Sandé: “Clown”

Emeli Sandé‘s debut album Our Version of Events went triple platinum overseas, boasting two top ten UK singles “Heaven” and “Next To Me“. It baffles me to this day that she hasn’t crossed over stateside a la Ellie Goulding or Adele, but on the other hand, I wonder if she’s a little too melodramatic and sincere for an American market that veers toward Taylor Swift, Ke$ha and, well, this.

Sandé’s latest single “Clown” is a perfect example of what I mean. It’s a straight-up ballad, the kind we haven’t really heard on the radio since the ’90s. Though her vocals cut right to the heart, it’s not exactly “catchy” in a way we’ve become accustomed to.

“It’s about how I felt when I was trying to get signed,” Sandé explains. “I was going for all these meetings and people were looking at me like ‘What do we do with you’? It’s about not allowing yourself to be judged by others or to be taken for an idiot.”

A great message, for sure! But maybe that’s not what people are looking for?

- Dewitt

Click through to listen to “Clown”: