Estelle is urging her fans to embrace their sexual side. And if you couldn’t tell by the video for her latest single, ‘Make Her Say (Beat It Up),’ off her upcoming album, ‘True Romance,’ she shows what real couples (including herself) like to do between the sheets — without all the filters, airbrushing and editing.
“I wanted people to be OK with being sexual, being human and being real,” the 34-year-old U.K. songstress tells The Boombox of her new project. “And they feel it, whether it’s in the bedroom or on terraces. I want you to feel comfortable in your skin. You don’t have to be made up for the guys all the time. Sometimes, that’s great, but other times, you just want to be no makeup and just shagging in the house.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist chose to go the raw route — no pun intended. “We wanted to do real sex. Remember ‘Real Sex,’ the [HBO] TV series in the mid ’90s to early 2000s? Yeah, it’s like that. So I wanted to show people’s real faces and in that real stage. It’s real human beings having sex. It’s so visceral. You hear it, and you see it in your head.”
Since she has such a strong urge to help others open up about their sexual desires, we couldn’t help but find out her own turn-ons and turn-offs in the bedroom. But before that pillow talk, Estelle provides more details on ‘True Romance,’ with sex only being one part of a bigger picture.
Jumping right back into the studio after the release of her ‘Love&Happiness’ series last year, Estelle collaborated with a number of songwriters and producers including longtime collaborator Keith Harris as well as J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. “I started recording after my first album almost immediately,” she says. “It was a pretty intense album so I wanted to start write this album straight away because I was going through so many things where I just couldn’t [put it off]. It was a magic time.”
Estelle wrote five songs with each producer and selected tracks that she felt encompassed her feelings at this stage in her life. After all, she was inspired by one of her own long-term loves. This third album focuses on four topics: passion, courage, bulls–t and true romance. While it looks like the makings of a 12-step program, these are the stages she believes make up a real relationship.
“It’s about dealing with the things we go through in the in-between period,” Estelle explains. “Not being in a relationship, not breaking up but the moments in between where I’ve spent a lot more time in versus being happy or just breaking up with someone. What I was writing about was getting back into the world of resetting. Sometimes it was passion, and sometimes it was the most frustrating thing in the world. It was bulls—. So when I looked at everything, there were four things that this album’s about: passion, courage, bulls— and true romance. And you need those four things to be in a [relationship].”
Since sex is such an important aspect of any romance, Estelle gets very candid about her own experiences and admits what the no-nos are when it comes to getting cozy with a guy. Check out 10 Ways a Man Kills the Mood According to Estelle. Pay attention, fellas.
Published on 21 May 2014. Read the full article here.