I remember people telling me about CDs and music and that was the first stage of awareness for me. “Songs in the Key of Life was the first album I ever had. He's just angelic and I feel like this song is too, the lyrics are spectacular. He was so warm - he met my sister and wouldn't let go of her hand because she was the same star sign as his late wife. “Stevie Wonder is so childlike as a person and as a songwriter, and having sung with him and met him he was just as imaginative and childlike as I had imagined. She takes us through the songs and singing voices that guided her own voice to the soulful, gritty tone that's synonymous with her music. In spite of a newfound approach to creativity, there’s something that Bedingfield has maintained throughout her career - that incredible singing voice - which has been the bedrock of her sound since the start of her career and a part of her performances that she says makes her feel she’s flying above the ground.įrom Stevie Wonder to Sting, Bedingfield found inspiration in male voices, as well as marvelling at the ranges of female singers such as Dolores O'Riordan and Lauryn Hill. I'm at a point now where I’m following my intuition and I'm having fun with it all.” I've been an entertainer, I've proven myself, I've made hits and I've played the game. I'm at a place where I feel like a beginner again and becoming a mother has been a reset for me and created this new identity. Eventually songs come to you and they’re a puzzle that you have to solve. “I learned a lot about being creative from that experience. I've done so many shows and I was looking for what I needed to take it to that next level.”Įxperimenting with her new live show and music has meant refocusing her creativity, but Bedingfield explains that her musical exploits were nothing compared to the literal creation of having her first child. When I wrote this album with Linda, I said I really wanted to create the best live show possible. "I did some old songs and then some new ones, I spliced them all the way through and it was great to see how they bounced off each other. Coming off the high of her first performance in the UK for some time, Bedingfield says it's still a surprise that she has such a committed fanbase.
"I think about different people when I sing, whether it's Tina Turner or Aretha Franklin", she tells me the morning after her homecoming show at Islington Assembly Hall.
Her intentions are to heal, not pacify.” Roll With Me is both a reminder of how Bedingfield keeps her ear to the ground to find the most impressive sounds on display and of her powerful singing voice. From her breakthrough album Unwritten to writing for other artists, the singer/songwriter has helped to shape the flavour of modern pop with her instantly recognisable voice, vast vocal range and dynamite high notes.įrom her origins of building a connection with listeners with a lyrically ambiguous but inspiring narrative, Linda Perry, who produced Roll With Me, says that "singing about rainbows and unicorns is not where she wants to shine. Natasha Bedingfield’s career is a story of seismic success.