Irresistible (Jessica Simpson album)
Irresistible is the second studio album by American recording artist Jessica Simpson, released on May 25, 2001, through Columbia Records. Simpson, who began working on the project in July 2000, contacted already established writers and producers to collaborate on the project, including Cory Rooney, Rodney Jerkins, and Walter Afanasieff. In contrast to her debut album Sweet Kisses, which included more ballads, Irresistible explored hip hop and R&B genres of music. Simpson described the material as "Mariah Carey meets Britney Spears", indicating the soulfulness of the songs as well as their contemporary appeal. Lyrical themes addressed in the album include love and heartbreak, sexuality, and self-respect.
Sweet Kisses, which was aimed at an older audience, did not perform well commercially, and so Simpson re-evaluated her career. At the suggestion of her label executives, Simpson modified her image and sound in Irresistible, deciding to delve more into the teen pop and R&B genres, as she felt that restyling herself to match the image of her contemporaries—Spears and Christina Aguilera—would help rejuvenate her career. After its release, Irresistible received a mixed reception from critics, most of whom were disappointed by the music; some of them also felt it was too generic and over-produced. The album debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 but quickly fell down the charts afterward. Though the album's initial chart placement was an improvement from her previous endeavor, it failed to match the commercial success of her contemporaries, as the album went on to sell only 755,000 copies in the United States and over two million worldwide. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 500,000 copies. Elsewhere, the album was moderately successful, reaching the top twenty in Canada and Switzerland and barely cracking the top forty in Sweden, Japan and Germany. It was certified gold in Japan and Canada.
Two singles were released from Irresistible. The title track, the album's lead single, was the most commercially successful, as it reached the top twenty in eleven countries, including no. 11 on the UK Singles Chart, and no. 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100. This was followed by "A Little Bit", which failed to chart in the US, and peaked at no. 62 in Australia.
Simpson promoted songs from Irresistible through a number of televised appearances and live concert events. In 2001, she embarked on the DreamChaser Tour, her debut concert tour, to promote Irresistible and perform select tracks from Sweet Kisses.
Background
Simpson signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1998 and the next year she released her debut album titled Sweet Kisses. The album featured mostly ballads, and was targeted at a more mature audience than the works of her contemporaries, such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera or Mandy Moore. Simpson also intended to remain true to her Christian upbringing and values and dress conservatively, unlike her peers. The album only managed a peak of no. 25 on the US Billboard 200, far from the success of the other chart-topping pop "idols". This led Simpson to rethink her career; although she was enjoying some success, and her voice was becoming known, she felt she could improve. Feeling her more "innocent" image would halt her career from developing further, Simpson adopted a more confident, mature image and more uptempo sound, at the suggestion of the Columbia executives.She moved into the teen-pop genre, as she felt that restyling herself to match the image of Spears and Aguilera would help remake her career. She separated from her then-boyfriend Nick Lachey, in March 2001, feeling the need to concentrate on her career. Her new image was clear through appearances at many events, where Simpson wore more stylish outfits. The development of this image coincided with the production and release of her second studio effort, Irresistible. Simpson said that she wanted to portray a "sexier, more mature style" for her second album. "I recorded Sweet Kisses when I was 17 years old and I'm 21 so there is four years of growth involved," Simpson said in an interview with Coventry Newspapers in July 2001. In an interview with Cosmopolitan in June 2001, she explained, "This record is about who I am now. The music is edgier, and I'm all grown up." According to Terri Doughtery, author of People in the News: Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Simpson hoped her new image would bring more attention to the power of her voice. "It's not just me singing about being in love. I also have heartbreak-songs and girls-telling-off-guys songs. It's going to take me a while to recoup this album, because we spent a lot of money on it," Simpson said to Entertainment Weekly.
Development
Simpson started working on the album in mid-July 2000. While compiling songs for Sweet Kisses, she had expressed inconvenience when a track's lyrics were too suggestive or delivered a message she did not agree with and thus asked for its modification. However, for Irresistible, she decided to let Tommy Mottola, the CEO of Columbia, take control of the whole project. He enlisted many established composers and producers for the album, hand-picked each song for the track list, and rejected those he felt were not so good. Although she had previously announced that she would write a few songs for her second album, Simpson does not share songwriting credits on any of the tracks. On being asked why, she said that she was very shy when it came to songwriting and felt that it requires a lot of "bravery" to write songs. She also expressed that she could not find the right words for the songs and hence did not write for the record. According to Simpson, the album did not have a definite concept or theme; Mottola selected songs which he felt were good enough for Simpson and compiled them into an album.Described as being very sexy and more grown up by Simpson, the opening title track was written by the Swedish duo Anders Bagge and Arnthor Birgisson, in collaboration with English singer-songwriter Pamela Sheyne. Birgisson told music technology magazine Sound on Sound that they started developing the song after Sheyne proposed the title and concept. Bagge and Birgisson developed the melody and completed the song's lyrics. Sheyne also sings backing vocals in the song. "A Little Bit" was written by Kara DioGuardi, along with Steve Morales and David Siegal. Although she had the written songs for other artists including Kylie Minogue and Martine McCutcheon, the song became DioGuardi's first writing credit for an artist from her native country. Simpson said that "the message behind the song is for the guys to listen to the girl." The next track, "Forever in Your Eyes", was co-written by Lachey, along with Rhett Lawrence.
Walter Afanasieff, long-time Mariah Carey collaborator, worked with Simpson on three cuts from Irresistible. One of the songs, "When You Told Me You Loved Me", was written by Afanasieff in collaboration with Billy Mann. In an interview with Allpop, Simpson named the song as one of her favorites and said, "I really base that on a situation of a friend of mine whose parents are divorced. I like the emotion behind that song." Cory Rooney wrote "Hot Like Fire" solely, which Simpson described as "certainly not kid stuff", a song "with a lot of attitude." Louis Biancaniello and Sam Watters were also brought in to write and produce songs for the album. One of the cuts, "For Your Love", according to Simpson, is reminiscent of "I Wanna Love You Forever". Simpson covered the gospel hymn "His Eye is on the Sparrow" as the last song of the album. She said, "I wanted to give my audience a piece of my heart and soul. The message is there's so much in life that can get you discouraged, but if you trust that you're being watched over, you have a reason to live and a sense of freedom. It's different for everyone, but for me, my relationship with God is the way I clear out the shadows that hang in our lives."
Recording and production
Motolla selected Cory Rooney as the executive producer of Irresistible. Most of the recording and mixing works were done at Sony Music Studios, New York City and was completed over a time span of eight months. Rooney also coordinated the recording process while Robert Williams miked the vocals. Sony's C-800G Tube Condenser Microphone, equipped with a dual large diaphragm and electronically selectable pick-up pattern, was used to record the vocals. In an interview with Sony SoundByte magazine in 2002, Williams said of his choice: "In the studio, it comes down to what you hear. She has such a big range, from a whisper to really belting it out, and you need a microphone that can handle the range without distortion." He had used the microphone for Simpson's first album and felt that it suited her well. He also noted that on ballads, "the S's and wet sounds of lips" are important to the texture of the song. According to him, as Simpson's vocals tended to be "bright", he edited the lower ends of her voice to equalize the track.To mix the tracks, a Sony Oxford Console was used. Audio engineer Mick Guzauski explained to Sony SoundByte that he used the console's "Automated EQ feature" on the tracks. He said that he could "tailor the frequency responses and dynamics within each song with optimum equalizer at every pitch and level." For the Afanasieff tracks, the background vocals and overdubs were accomplished on the Oxford console at his Wally World Studio B, at San Rafael, California. Simpson's label-mate and Latin singer Marc Anthony is featured as a guest vocalist on the ballad "There You Were". Simpson met Anthony at the taping of the TV special A Christmas in Washington in 2000. They talked to each other, and proposed recording a song on both of their next albums. They sang the song side by side in the studio and the whole song was completed within six hours. "Forever in Your Eyes" was one of the first songs to be recorded for the album, and was produced by Rhett Lawrence. It was recorded at Sony Music Studios within two hours. Rodney Jerkins, who was acquainted with Mottola, produced two cuts on Irresistible. In an interview with Sony Music Japan, Simpson said that she never met Jerkins in person. He produced and recorded the songs' music and sent the tape to Columbia, from which "Imagination" and "I Never" were selected. Cory Rooney produced Simpson's vocals and Tony Maserati mixed the vocals. Initially, Simpson did not want to record "What's It Gonna Be" as she felt the line "Are you gonna be a dog or a gentleman" was a little awkward. However, due to her record label's persuasion, she recorded the song and ultimately became fond of it. In order to record the title track, Simpson traveled to Murlyn Music Studios, in Sweden. "A Little Bit" was produced by Ric Wake; although he produced many songs for the album, only "A Little Bit" made the final cut. The Japanese version of the album contains a bonus track—the Hex Hector remix of "Irresistible"—for which Simpson re-recorded her vocals.