New Music: Leona Lewis just wants to be 'Happy'

Leona Lewis is officially back on the scene. After a few tracks from her upcoming album, Echo, leaked some weeks ago, we now have the official lead single. Leona co-wrote Happy with Ryan Tedder and Evan Bogart, but ten seconds into the track and you could have figured that out for yourself. It's so very irritating when one producer gets branded a "hitmaker;" it only translates to monotony on the radio. Happy is filthy with Tedder's footprints; his formula for creating a stellar, striking pop song is clearly perfected, but the sad reality is we've heard it too many times before. Case in point: after I heard Happy for the first time, I had Bleeding Love stuck in my head.

"Happy is filthy with Ryan Tedder's footprints."

With all that said, Happy is almost certainly Leona's next big hit. The track saddles the fence between Bleeding Love and Better in Time -- two singles I found to be oddly polarizing amongst friends, so everyone should be 'happy' this time around. Even with its blatant similarities to Bleeding Love and Jordin Sparks' Battlefield, there's no denying the pull of that sudden, booming chorus or Leona's pitch-perfect vocals. These mid-tempo, power pop ballads are clearly Leona's bread and butter. I'd be astonished if she didn't give an amazing performance complete with fog and moody lighting at the upcoming Divas special on VH1 to quiet all the whispers of her mistaken inclusion. While she may be lacking the diva flair in personality, Leona is still at the very pinnacle of the game vocally -- the Mariah to Christina Aguilera's Whitney.

"Mid-tempo, power pop ballads are Leona's bread and butter; Happy is almost certainly her next big hit."

Leona's sophomore album Echo is slated for a November release. You'll be listening to Happy for the next year or so -- you may as well take the plunge now. Enjoy.


Happy
Leona Lewis
Echo