Arist of the Week
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AUTHOR: Geordae
CATEGORY: Uncategorized, Artist of the Week
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POST: 08.14.05 @ 5:35 am
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When Natasha Bedingfield says she is ready for her U.S. close-up, she is not kidding. According to Sony BMG, she sold, internationally, 1.5 million copies of her 2004 debut album, “Unwritten” — and now she has her eyes set firmly on America.

To prove that she means business, Bedingfield will spend a lot of time stateside. She is currently on a four-week promotional trek and will move temporarily to Los Angeles in September.

“People need to have face time with me,” the British artist tells Billboard. “With all the imaging, packaging and reality TV today, people think they’re always getting conned. I want them to know that with me, they’re getting the real deal.”

Welcome to Bedingfield’s world. With the Aug. 2 release of “Unwritten” in the States, American pop enthusiasts will start getting to know this “real deal.”

Singer/songwriter Bedingfield is already making waves with the disc’s lead single. The hip-hop-flavored “These Words,” which reached No. 1 in 12 countries, is a top 20 hit on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 chart.

Since the spring, “These Words” has been steadily building momentum — particularly at mainstream top 40 radio stations. Mike Preston of KBKS Seattle, an early supporter of the track, says response was immediate. Listeners called asking about the “I love you” song.

Catchy chorus and all, the track has been a consistent top 10 request at KBKS, adds Preston, who calls Bedingfield a cross between Nelly Furtado and Lauryn Hill. “There is a lot of depth on ‘Unwritten.’ Natasha’s sound is fresh.”

None of this is lost on Bedingfield, who co-wrote all but one song on the album — and whose songs have appeared on such soundtracks as “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous” and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”

“Too many artists mimic things that are already good,” she says. “Why mimic Madonna when there’s already a Madonna?”

For its U.S. debut, “Unwritten” has been slightly altered.

“Stumble” and “The One That Got Away” replace “I’m a Bomb” and “Frogs and Princes,” while “These Words” and the title track were remixed. Additionally, “Drop Me in the Middle” features British female rapper Estelle instead of D12’s Bizarre, who was featured on the international version.

Bedingfield, whose brother Daniel is also a pop hitmaker, and Sony Music senior vice president Keith Naftaly reformatted and remastered the album for American ears. In the months since the international release, Bedingfield says, she “had more time to work out who I am.”

At the beginning, “you step into these shoes that don’t quite fit,” she continues. “But then you learn how to walk in them. This year, with my fresh start in America, the shoes fit perfectly.”

Because Bedingfield is not a pop vehicle for a producer-driven project, Naftaly says it was important to highlight the edgy, gritty side to her songwriting, as well as “an intelligence that’s beyond the typical prototype of slick British pop.”

Bedingfield’s reach is extending to MTV, VH1, Yahoo and AOL, where the Chris Milk-directed video for “These Words” is being championed.

The track has also been a top 10 pop download at Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store.

In the fall, Electronic Arts will release a new James Bond video game featuring Bedingfield as a Bond girl. Epic hopes to have her music included in the game.

Regardless of what happens next, Bedingfield feels she has already come far: “For an English person from a little island, it’s exciting to see how people are reacting to my song in the U.S. For me, it’s already quite massive.”