Glassheart

For the title song of the album, see Glassheart (song).

Untitled

Glassheart is the third studio album by British recording artist Leona Lewis, released from 12 October 2012 by Syco Music and RCA Records. The album is Lewis's first under RCA Records after parent company Sony Music Entertainment closed J Records and relocated artists to other labels. Glassheart was conceived in 2010 shortly after the completion of Lewis' first headline tour, The Labyrinth. Recording and production for the album took place in Denver, Los Angeles and London; originally the album was due for release in November 2011 but was pushed back several times throughout 2012 to accommodate new recording sessions and more creative time for the project.

On Glassheart, Lewis is reunited with Ryan Tedder, record producer of her previous singles "Bleeding Love" and "Happy" and songwriter Andrea Martin who co-wrote "Better in Time," in addition to a number of new collaborators such as British duo Naughty Boy and Emeli Sandé, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and DJ Frank E. Producer Fraser T Smith executively produced the album after impressing Lewis with his work on "Hurt: The EP" (2011), a cover song extended play (EP) that Lewis released to bridge the gap between Echo (2009) and Glassheart (2012).

Initially "Collide", a collaboration with house music DJ Avicii, was released on 2 September 2011. Originally a song by just Lewis, Avicii sued Sony Music claiming that the song had plagarised his own instrumental song "Penguin". Through mutual agreement it was released as a collaboration becoming a top-five hit in the UK Lewis's first single to top the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. The Afrojack remix of "Collide" is the only version to feature on Glassheart. Subsequent single "Trouble" featured American rapper Childish Gambino and preceded the album by one week. It was less successful reaching top-ten in the UK and top-thirty in Ireland. "Lovebird" was released in November 2012 throughout Europe but failed to chart after selling less than 600 copies in the UK.

Upon release Glassheart received a mixed reception from music critics who praised the vocals and experimental use of dubstep and electronic music but were less impressed with the album's ballads. In the UK, the album is Lewis' first album not to reach number one, having debuted at number three with 27,000 copies in its first week. Elsewhere the album reached number four in Ireland Lewis' third top-five album. Glassheart was released in most of continental Europe and Oceana throughout November 2012, and reached the top-thirty and top-sixty in Switzerland and Spain respectively.

Background and release

Lewis completed her first headline tour The Labyrinth in July 2010, and soon after began making plans for her then-untitled third album. Recording and production officially began in late 2010; with a view to releasing the album in November 2011. Originally "Collide," a collaboration with Swedish DJ Avicii, was released in August 2011, with the album to follow in November, however Lewis was inspired to continue making music and used her Facebook account to announce that the album was being pushed back into early 2012. 26 March 2012 was confirmed as the new release date for Glassheart. To bridge the gap between Echo (2009) and Glassheart (2012), Lewis teamed with British producer Fraser T Smith to record Hurt: The EP, an extended play (EP) of cover songs which was released in December. In January 2012, Lewis announced that the album was being pushed back again, this time to November 2012. During the interview with Digital Spy Lewis also confirmed that she had recorded with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris and that Smith had been brought on board to help with production for Glassheart. In April 2012, in an interview at the Ariella Couture fashion show, Lewis stated, "I’m now planning to have the album out in the summer [of 2012]. Simon Cowell has heard some of the tracks and he loves it". Cowell would later publicly offer his support for Glassheart, declaring to Lewis that although there's been a lengthy wait of two years for new music, "I think this new album is sensational, you’ve never sounded better."

I had a provisional deadline but I was still in the midst of recording and didn’t feel like I’d got the crux of the album. So I kept going and kept writing and then I got Fraser T Smith involved, who went on to executive produce all the songs.

— Lewis taking to the Birmingham Mail.

On 21 June 2012, Smith spoke to Music Week about Glassheart being released on 26 November 2012. Scrapping many of the earlier recorded material for the album (see recording sessions), Smith said he was "taking a production role for the whole album as well as co-authoring about half its tracks". Lewis would later talk of the album's push-back and Smith's involvement in the album, describing the original release dates as rough guides. Following Lewis's performance at BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, Smith revealed that the album was 80% complete, "We’ve got the key tracks and we’re very close." Describing the process as a stark contrast to previous albums Spirit and Echo, Smith said that when you work with many producers "you end up with maybe two or three radio songs and not necessarily the album sales you want." Lewis spoke to reporters back stage after the performance, revealing that the album had been brought forward a month to October 2012. By the time July had come around, Smith updated fans to say that the album was now 97% complete.

At the end of August, Lewis began the process of closing the album by selecting the track listing and approving the final final audio mixes and masters of the songs. On 5 September 2012, Lewis used Twitter to communicate with Smith, and inform him that she was approaching the end of listening to all the final mixes. Lewis unveilled the final track listing for the standard edition on 9 September 2012 featuring twelve songs, but excluding the album's first single "Collide" (with Avicii). Smith confirmed that the final decisions had been made and that the album was 100% complete on 10 September 2012. A two-disc deluxe edition was also be released alongside the standard version as per a question and answer session Lewis did with fans. 30-second snippets of each song were released on 5 October. The album itself was released on 12 October in Ireland and 15 October 2012 in the United Kingdom.

Recording sessions

Amongst the first people to work with Lewis was her frequent collaborator Ryan Tedder who penned and produced multiple songs both on Spirit (2007) and Echo (2009). The album is named after "Glassheart," a song produced during recording sessions with Tedder in Denver, Colorado, when Lewis asked for a song that she could "dance and jump around [to]." The song was also co-written with Noel Zancanella and OneRepublic guitarist Brent Kutzle. Kutzle, Zancanella and Tedder worked with Lewis on another other song called "Burn". A snippet of "Burn" was used during an interview with Clive Davis which aired on 23 October 2011. Davis who was the head of Lewis's US label J Records is now an executive of RCA Records has previously been involved in the A&R portion of Lewis's albums. The CBS interview titled Clive "The Music Man" Davis — Interview showed Davis talking about Lewis branching out with American producers, as well as him previewing various songs before going to a meeting where they would be presented to Lewis for her to chose to record. However when the track listing for the album was unveilled, "Burn" was omitted. Instead included was another song written by Zancanlla, Lewis and Tedder, along with Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith titled "Favourite Scar".

British hip hop artist Tinie Tempah originally approached Lewis to record "Trouble".

British hip hop artist Tinie Tempah approached Lewis to record a duet with him called "Trouble," however after hearing the raw demo sung by Emeli Sandé Lewis decided she wanted to record the song for her own album. Together with Sandé and Fraser T Smith, Lewis recorded her the song. "Trouble" features on the album in two versions; the first features just Lewis and is the opening track on Glassheart, while the second version featuring a rap from American entertainer Childish Gambino features as track thirteen. As a result of recording "Trouble", Sandé and Lewis struck up a friendship which led to the duo writing several other songs for the album. "Mountains" was co-written by Lewis and Sandé with Shahid Khan, James Murray, Mustafa Omer and Luke Juby. The piano and strings-leg ballad was supposed to feature on Glassheart however for reasons unknown the song was reclaimed by Sandé and instead features on her own debut album Our Version of Events (2012). A small unfinished snippet of Lewis's version of "Mountains" leaked online on 15 August 2012 along with another song called "I Miss You Missing Me," which was written by Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren and originally sung by Chinese singer Bibi Zhou in 2010. A third Sandé and Lewis-penned song called "I to You" did make the album. In September 2011, Sylvia Patterson of The Guardian previewed several tracks from the album including "Sugar" and "Trouble," both of which feature on the album, in addition to the song "Blank Page." The latter was described as "a soaring reverie over mournful piano and strings," but it did not make the album. During this same time period, fellow American producer Brian Kennedy Seals revealed that Lewis would be recording one of his songs called "Open Up".

Sandy Vee produced the album's first single "Collide".

According to Yahoo! music, Lewis also worked with Ammo and Steve Robson while a press release from Sony Music revealed that Lewis had branched out to work with a variety of international producers. Amongst those Lewis worked with during the 2011 recording sessions were Swedish producer Jonas Quant (who is famed for working with Manchester synthpop duo Hurts), American producer Chuck Harmony and American songwriters Claude Kelly and Al Shux. During this same time, two other American record producers linked themselves to Glassheart. Whilst working an a mentor on American Idol, American music producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart he had been asked to submit material for Lewis's new album. French producer Sandy Vee and American songwriter Autumn Rowe presented Lewis with the album's first single "Collide". Digital Spy and Popjustice confirmed that Lewis spent time in the studios with American songwriter Rico Love, producer and writer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins", rapper will.i.am and Polow da Don. Lewis's sessions with Darkchild took place over the weekend of 18–19 May 2012, and produced the song "Shake You Up". Circle House Studios in Miami, Florida was the venue for the recording sessions with Love.

MTV revealed that R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo was planning to pen some material for Lewis to record. It would be the third time and Lewis and Ne-Yo had worked together, Ne-Yo having previous penned tracks for Spirt and produced tracks for Echo that did not make the final track listing. Ne-Yo wasn't the only past collaborator Lewis reunited with, Andrea Martin who co-wrote Lewis's 2008 single "Better in Time" had been working working for Lewis in the first half of 2011. On 1 January 2012 the leaking of a snippet of "Love Birds" (later renamed "Lovebird") revealed that according Idolator, Lewis had worked with Bonnie McKee who is known for working with Kesha, Britney Spears and Katy Perry. Lewis also travelled to Nashville Tennessee to record music for a week in January, and separately worked with Dallas Austin. McKee would join later studio sessions after Fraser T Smith was brought on board and co-write "Un Love Me" with Smith and Kelly Sheehan, a writer known for her work with Mariah Carey.

Calvin Harris (left) worked with Lewis to record, "We Found Love" but eventually the record would be released by Rihanna (right).

At the end of 2011, Lewis spoke about another of her collaborators – this time Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, "I've worked with Calvin on a song and want to do another – he's so talented. I'm planning an EP before the end of the year as I feel bad for everyone who was expecting the album this year. But the lead song won't be the track I've done with Emeli Sandé – that's for the album [Glassheart]." Lewis would later reveal that she had recorded the song "We Found Love" but because she wanted to release "Trouble" as her first single, Harris subsequently offered the song to Rihanna while touring with the singer. Rihanna's version of "We Found Love" subsequently became a world-wide hit. Lewis released Hurt: The EP in December 2011 to appease fans who were waiting Glassheart. The EP consisted of cover songs which had been re-tooled by Smith. During the middle of March, Lewis posted a picture of herself in the studio with Jahlil Beats and Smith, confirming that Smith was now producing material for Glassheart. Later following Lewis's performance at the Radio 1 Hackney Weekend in June, it was confirmed that Smith was overseeing the production for the remainder of the album and had been hired as the project's executive producer. Norwiegen songwriter Ina Wroldsen joined some of Lewis and Smith's studio sessions, notably contributing to the song "Come Alive". Orchestral collective the Wired Strings joined Smith in the studio in June 2012, to record the strings section for the song "I to You". Smith produced the composition while Rosie Danvers handled the arrangement.

Album artwork and title

Lewis worked with photographer Guy Aroch for the album photoshoot in a vintage apartment, with lots of the shots featuring Lewis posing against walls. The artwork itself was unveilled on 5 September 2011. An editor for The Metro described the photo used for the cover, Lewis stares directly at the camera "in a continuation of the more sexy and sophisticated look she has been sporting in recent months." The reviewer commented on Lewis's styling: "Her long dark hair is swept back from her face, aside from her ruffled fringe, while two black stars have been carefully applied below her eyes, adding to the overall dramatic effect." Becky Bain from music website Idolator, commented that although "Lewis looks beautiful", the image processing makes her look "incredibly washed out in this over-saturated photo" and Bain was less impressed with the star-like beauty marks on Lewis's face. A cover for the deluxe edition will feature images of fans interacting or posing with a heart, and will be selected through entries to a competition run by Lewis's official website. Additionally in the United Kingdom, Play.com is offering exclusive signed copies of Glassheart whilst HMV is offering versions of the album with an exclusive slipcase. Through an official blog, Lewis confirmed that 3,000 limited edition signed copies were shipped exclusively to Play.com.

The album title "Glassheart" was inspired from a conversation that Lewis had with record producer and frequent collaborator Ryan Tedder. During the conversation Tedder asked Lewis about her past experiences with love and life in general. Lewis spoke candidly on the subject resulting in Tedder coming up with the word "Glassheart." During an interview with Clyde 1 radio, Lewis said "Glassheart represents protecting your heart, yourself and protecting your emotions, its very poignant".

Composition

Songs and lyrics

Lewis unveilled the official track listing of the standard edition of Glassheart on 9 September 2012, which excluded the first single "Collide" (with Avicii). A two-disc deluxe edition was also released alongside the standard version, "Collide" features as the sixth track on disc 2, as per a question and answer session Lewis did with fans. The album was executively produced by Fraser T Smith, who confirmed in June 2012 that he was "taking a production role for the whole album as well as co-authoring about half its tracks". Syco Music's MD and A&R representative Sonny Thkrar said that Smith was brought on board to "weave a creative thread through the album", elaborating that Smith was ensuring that there was continuity in "the vocal recording, the style, the production and songwriting." Smith also commented that his aim was for "Lewis to make an artist album rather than it being a collection of songs." According to Lewis, Glassheart tells the story of ""star-crossed lovers that can't be together."

The album opens and closes with two versions of the lead single, "Trouble," described by Sylvia Patterson of The Guardian as "very London". Co-written with British singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé, it contains elements of trip hop and was inspired by Lewis's 2010 break-up with childhood sweetheart Lou Al-Chamaa. Lyrics co-written by Lewis include the lines "I told you never to get used to me, I stay awake while you fall asleep. I'm a whole lot of trouble, we're in a whole lot of trouble. You shout louder than you used to, and you hold on tighter in the bedroom." When Smith was brought on board with Glassheart, "Trouble" was amongst one of the songs he would work on; a new rap verse by Childish Gambino was added along with some additional production. "Trouble" was an early contender for the second single on Glassheart, being selected in September 2011, prior to the album's pushbacks; it was released on 5 October 2012 as the album's second release and lead single preceding the album by a week. Early critics praised the song's emotive qualities and dark undertones.

"Un Love Me," a song described by Smith as "radio friendly" and "a classic Leona Lewis record", appears as the second track. It was written by Smith, Bonnie McKee and Kelly Sheehan; McKee's previous credits include songs for Katy Perry and Britney Spears, while Sheehan is most noted for collaborating with Mariah Carey. Upon reviewing the album, critics also praised its cridentials as a single. It is built around guitar riffs and "thudding bass beats" while vocals are in falsetto. Critics compared the song to work by Indie band Snow Patrol. "Lovebird" is a midtempo ballad which uses a organ-based introduction, similar to that used in Lewis's debut single "Bleeding Love", and is then layered with piano melodies in the chorus which critics compared to those used in Lewis's single "Better in Time". A dubstep and drum and bass-inspired song, "Come Alive" written and produced by Smith with co-writing from Lewis and Swedish songwriter Ina Wroldsen features as the fourth song. Lewis commented that the song had a dark tone and energy. Critics noted the song's heavy electronic production which includes a techno breakdown towards the end.

As well as co-writing "Trouble", Sandé helped to write "I to You".

"Fireflies" is a gospel-pop song which was written and produced by Cragie Dodds from indie-rock outfit One eskimO. The track opens with a "rotating piano riff" while during the versses and choruses Lewis's vocals are joined by a strings orchestra, all of which critics noted and pointed to the strong gospel influences on the song. "I to You" is another song written by Sandé and produced by Loco. It is driven by a string instrument-led melody, which was performed by the orchestral collective Wired Strings, and arranged by Rosie Danvers. "Shake You Up," was noted by critics as a "modern remake" of an 80's pop song with strong elements of bubblegum pop. While being written by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and British singer-songwriter Olivia Waithe (also known as Livvi Franc). Critics noted that "Shake You Up" starts with a vocal interlude from Lewis, who asks "Can you turn the music up a little bit please?" The production, helmed by Darkchild, uses synths and a midtempo "80's pop" melody. Critics compared it to the early work of the late American entertainer Whitney Houston. "Stop the Clocks" returns to the electronic production present on much of the album, but according to critics it was a "lighter instrumental production" that could have been taken from Lewis's last album Echo (2009).

Tedder produced previous singles "Bleeding Love" and "Happy".

"Favourite Scar" was co-written by Lewis, Tedder, Noel Zancanlla, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. It is built around the lyric "You shot me through my heart. Pain never felt so good. Boy, you're my favourite scar," whilst critics noted that it was full of attitude from the beginning, comparing it to songs by Barbadian singer Rihanna. The song is built around a piano riff, which is joined by hip hop beats; Lewis Corner from Digital Spy said "it's not the kind of Ryan Tedder collaboration we've come to expect from LeLe." "When it Hurts" is a piano-led ballad that also features some elements of electronic guitar. The album's title song "Glassheart" is also a production done by Tedder. Speaking of working with Tedder, Lewis described how the title track came about during a visit to Denver, Colorado: "I remember, when I was a little bit down. I went to Denver to hang out with Ryan [Tedder] – to see him and his family – and see if we could come up with something nice. I remember just not wanting to sing a ballad or anything that would make me more sad. I was like, 'Can you give me a song where I can just dance and jump around?', and he was like, 'What about this?' – he played this beat and it was really hypnotic. So I was like, 'Yes! We have to do this'." It was co-written with Zancanella and OneRepublic guitarist Brent Kutzle. Smith also added some production elements to the song. Critics noted that "Glassheart" was a distinctive change in sound for Lewis, with its production featuring elements of dance, grime and dubstep. Critics noted that after several ballads, the up-tempo "Glassheart" was a "welcome change of pace."

The album closes with a "down-tempo ballad" called "Fingerprint," which was written by Lewis, Laura Pergolizzi and Smith, Critics noted that the song was a showcase for Lewis's vocals; Lewis begins the song singing in her lower register before moving to her falsetto. The song is produced atop a "delicate piano riff" which are later joined by "crashing echoes" and "strings" section. The chorus is built around the lyric "No match, no match, no match for your fingerprint/ No substitute, no other you." A rap edit of "Trouble" which features Childish Gambino is also included as a bonus track; Gambino raps a "witty and poetic verse" during the song's middle eight section.

The deluxe edition features six additional tracks which on CD versions of the album, feature on a second disc. The first three songs are acoustic performances of "Trouble", "Come Alive" and "Glassheart". Tracks four and five are two new songs not featured on the standard edition. "Colorblind" is song number four, while number five is a song called "Sugar" that Patterson described as "an orchestral landscape." "Sugar" was written by Sandé and Al Shux. The second disc closes with the Afrojack remix of album's first single "Collide." The song attracted controversy by drawing close comparisons to "Penguin", a 2010 instrumental song by Swedish DJ Tim "Avicii" Berg. Berg would later take Lewis and Sony Music to court to sue for plagarism, before the case was resolved out of court by releasing "Collide" as a collaborative single between Lewis and Avicii.

Influence and sound

In February 2011, Lewis said about the album will be more experimental compared to previous records Spirit and Echo, embodying a "different" yet "classic" sound. She added, "I’m really, really excited about it. I’m working with some new producers, some up and coming people and it’s going to be kind of a different sound – but still classic". Lewis suggested the album would be "a bit different from what people have heard" from her before, adding that she planned to "go in and create and just see what happens". Lewis later described the album as "more progressive", "more eclectic", "more uptempo" and "a bit darker". The Sun reported that the album had taken a dubstep direction, with songwriters asked to submit dance songs and no ballads. The song "Come Alive" experiments with dubstep and drum and bass, In March 2012, after adding more time to the album's recording sessions Lewis elaborated on the evolution of her sound, "I've got a track that's got a bit of drum 'n' bass at the end. It's quite different to what I've had out before." Lewis then went on to add "I've got a track that's very '90s. It's just different influences that I've had through my life growing up. I'm really actually looking forward to people hearing it."

Tracy Chapman (left), Kate Bush (right) were Lewis's main influences whilst recording the album.

Throughout the development of the album Lewis explained that she wanted to make an album that is "timeless". In June 2011, when asked about the upcoming album, Lewis described it as "energetic, deep, [and] unique". She also commented that it would have a darker tone and that she would be putting her "heart into [her] lyrics". She cited Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush and Tears for Fears as the album's primary influences. Lewis spoke on the sound of the album saying "Well, when I was on tour, we mixed a lot of dancer beats on it – my cousin actually reproduced a lot of the ballads. I've taken more of that sound into the album; we've got a lot of piano and live instrumentation. I've a song called 'Fireflies' which I really, really love and hope we get to do as a single. it's a really good one. And it's got a guy on it!" She explained "So the album is such a eclectic mix. I've really got to delve into every kind of music that I love, really try everything and make the best of everything. Because I love so many different genres, it's kind of hard to just pick one thing to do, so I just did everything!"

During an interview with Digital Spy, Tedder said he was inspired by the movie Tron: Legacy (2010) amongst other things, and "wanted to suprise and shock people". On the songs, Lewis said that Tedder "used these synthetic melodies that go up and down the scale, really, really fast." During a uStream chat with fans, Lewis announced she would be rapping on the album after "discovering a voice for rap", comparing her London MC style to American hip-hop rapper/singer Nicki Minaj. Following Smith being brought on board with the album, Lewis confirmed that the album was a mixture of "programmed synths and live music". Smith described the album vocals as "fantastic," commenting to Digital Spy that Lewis "is making a very relevant record...[it is] a very important record for her. The songs are really strong". In a separate interview with Popjustice in July 2012, Smith said that Lewis had "turned up raw emotions" and produced a "classic sound". In June 2012, following her performance of the song "Come Alive" at Radio 1's Big Weekend, Lewis was asked if "Come Alive" was a good indication of the rest of the album. She replied, "It's definitely a piece of it, but there's much more quiet-sounding instrumentals." During a September interview for the Birmingham Mail, Lewis elaborated that she was influenced by American R&B singer Drake's "laidback beats," whilst expaining that the majority of the album is a mixture of electronic instruments and live instruments.

Promotion

Marketing

On 23 July 2012 Lewis released her first video on the lead up to the release of the album saying “In the lead-up to my album, I wanted to make some video blogs and share with you my journey (!) and everything that goes on, from the video I’m doing very soon, to going on the road doing shows. Every week I’m going to be doing a little video blog and this is the first one.” A second blog entry on 10 August, showed Lewis heading to some studios to record some acoustic performances of the album's songs. Later, another blog revealed that five songs had been recorded with the backing track provided solely by piano and cello. The first of those acoustic performances was for the album's lead single, "Trouble" featuring American rapper Childish Gambino. Filmed in black and white, and featuring Lewis singing a solo version of "Trouble", the black and white performance was released through Lewis's official Vevo account on 5 September 2012. A newsletter to fans on 24 August 2012 about the upcoming release of the album's lead single "Trouble" and officially unveiled details about a competition for aspiring musicians. In association with TalentHouse, fans have the opportunity to produce their own remix of the song to be entered into a competition to win the chance of having their remix released exclusively through Lewis's official website. Lewis and Fraser T Smith (co-producer and co-writer of the song) will be amongst the judges.

Additionally, a separate competition is being run in which fans have the opportunity to feature on the album's deluxe edition artwork. Fans were encouraged to send in pictures of themselves interacting with a heart (or hearts), of which a selection of the images will be used for the deluxe edition cover. During a promotional tour of UK radio stations, Lewis premiered the album's title track on 19 September 2012, on Capital FM's In Demand program. Two days later, Lewis premiered "Stop the Clocks" live on Graham Norton's Saturday morning radio show on BBC Radio 2. On 26 September 2012, Gene Simmons' daughter Sophie Tweed-Simmons auditioned for the second season of The X Factor USA; during the judges comments on the performance, a snippet of "Fireflies" was played in the background. From 28 September 2012 through to 15 October 2012, an acoustic version of "Colorblind" is available as a free download from Amazon.co.uk. "Colorblind" was originally performed by American rock band Counting Crows; Lewis covered the song for her 2011 release, Hurt: The EP, and that version is also featured on the deluxe edition of Glassheart.

Live performances

On 3 September 2011 Lewis performed "Collide" for the first time on the first episode of Simon Cowell's new gameshow Red or Black?. She then performed the song along with the album's title song "Glassheart" at London's G-A-Y nightclub. Then in June 2012, Lewis performed during the opening slot of BBC Radio One's Hackney Weekend. Lewis's performance was directed by Steve Anderson and was choreographed by Lewis's then-boyfriend Dennis Jauch. The set-list consisted of Skylar Grey's interpretation of "I'm Coming Home" (with special guest Wretch 32), a mash-up of previous single "Better in Time" with Rihanna's "Man Down", as well as "Come Alive" (a new song co-written by Fraser T Smith and Ina Wroldsen), "Collide" and "Run". A remix of "Collide" produced by Anderson was specially commissioned for the performance, while the Hackney Empire Community Gospel Choir joined Lewis's performance of "Run".

She reprised her performance of "Come Alive" during an acoustic set at the Amberliegh Charity Foundation Event on 25 August 2012. The set also included previous singles "Run", "Bleeding Love" and "Better in Time", in addition to covers of "Apologize" by OneRepublic and "Grenade" by Bruno Mars. On 11 September 2012, Lewis held an acoustic gig for an intemate crowd at London's Annabel Nightclub. The set-list included new songs from Glassheart, while the audience included Lewis's parents Aural and Maria as well as models Kelly Brook, Annabelle Neilson and Indian businessman Arun Nayar. Lewis is also set to perform "Trouble" live on the ninth series of The X Factor, the same show which launched Lewis's career seven years earlier. According to Music Week, Lewis will perform on the weekend of 6 & 7 October, directly preceding the song's release. During the album release week, Lewis performed on Alan Carr: Chatty Man on 12 September before returning to London's G-A-Y nightclub, almost a year after Lewis appeared at G-A-Y to perform album's title song and "Collide". Lewis's set was supported by the first eliminated act (Carolynne Poole) from the ninth series of The X Factor. During the Stand Up to Cancer UK telethon on 19 October 2012, Lewis performed "Fingerprint" live for the first time, as well as the acoustic version of "Trouble" on This Morning. On 20 October 2012, Lewis will perform an acoustic set for the seventh annual Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women Awards.

The Glassheart Tour

In 2013, Lewis is set to tour the United Kingdom for her second headline tour following 2010's The Labyrinth, which was well received by critics. In support of Glassheart, the tour will visit twenty-one venues across Germany and the United Kingdom. Initially sixteen dates were announced with the tour expected to begin on 26 April at the Glasgow Auditorium, however on 5 December the tour was expanded to include five dates in Germany. The Glassheart Tour will now begin on 15 April at the Berlin Tempodrom proceeding to three other cities before Lewis plays her final German concert at the Munich Philamornie. Lewis will then proceed with her UK dates beginning with Glasgow, including two dates at London's Royal Albert Hall before finishing on 18 May at Plymouth Pavilions in Plymouth. Speaking about the tour during a press release, Lewis said "I can't wait to get out there and play my new songs. I had such fun on my last tour and I'm really excited about doing it again next year." The tour is named after the album, and although Lewis said she wasn't a fan of Kanye West, she was inspired by his tour performances on stage where he appeared on stage alone and just "did his thing". During an interview with Digital Spy, Lewis told Tom Eames, that the album Glassheart has a running theme about "star-crossed lovers that can't be together," and so it was likely that this idea would feature on the tour. Lewis also cited William Shakespeare as another potential source of inspiration for the tour.

List of European tour dates and venues

City	Country	Date	Venue
Berlin	Germany	15 April 2013	Tempodrom
Frankfurt		16 April 2013	Jahrhunderthalle
Dusseldorf		18 April 2013	Mitsubishi Electric Halle
Hamburg		19 April 2013	Congress Center Hamburg
Munich		21 April 2013	Philharmonie
Luzern	Switzerland	22 April 2013	KKL
Glasgow	Scotland	26 April 2013	Clyde Auditorium
Edinburgh		27 April 2013	Edinburgh Playhouse
Ipswich	England	29 April 2013	Regent
Nottingham		30 April 2013	Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
Newcastle		2 May 2013	Newcastle City Hall
Sheffield		3 May 2013	Sheffield City Hall
Brighton		5 May 2013	Brighton Centre
Birmingham		6 May 2013	National Indoor Arena
London		8 May 2013	Royal Albert Hall
London		9 May 2013	Royal Albert Hall
Oxford		11 May 2013	New Theatre Oxford
Cardiff	Wales	12 May 2013	Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Manchester	England	14 May 2013	Manchester Apollo
Liverpool		15 May 2013	Echo Arena
Bournemouth		17 May 2013	International Centre
Plymouth		18 May 2013	Plymouth Pavilions
Scarborough		12 July 2013	Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Singles

Childish Gambino — the American actor, comedian and rapper features on second single "Trouble".

On 14 July 2011, it was announced that the album's first single "Collide" would have its first play on BBC Radio 1's The Scott Mills Show. The Autumn Rowe-penned dance-pop song quickly attracted controversy after it was claimed to have plagarised Swedish disc jockey Avicii's 2010 song "Penguin". Avicii took the case to the British High Court just prior to its release, however the case was resolved out of court. "Collide" was released as a joint single between Lewis and Avicii on 4 September 2011. Critical reception of the song was mixed, with critics torn between the Lewis's ability to "deliver power ballad lyrics into a dance orientated song" with the song's production which "seemed to build and drop at the wrong times" with an incohesive structure. "Collide" was moderately successful, in the issue of Billboard magazine dated 9 August 2011, it became the "Hot Shot Debut" on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, debuting at number 32, three weeks before its official release date. In its seventh week the song topped the chart, becoming Lewis's first number one dance single. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, "Collide" debuted at number three and four respectively.

Before the album's pushback into 2012, during an interview with Digital Spy, Lewis noted that a song called "Trouble" was being lined up as the second single. The song contains elements of trip hop and is inspired by trip hop pioneers, Massive Attack. Glassheart was subsequently pushed back a number of times into 2012, yet in June 2012, Lewis confirmed that "Trouble" which was co-written by herself and Emeli Sandé would still be the second release, and lead single from the album. It was revealed that during the delay of the album, American rapper Childish Gambino was now featured on the song, which premiered 21 August 2012. Fans can enter a competition to produce their own remix of "Trouble", which will be released alongside the single. Lewis filmed a music video for "Trouble" with Teen Wolf actor Colton Haynes playing her love interest on 22 August 2012. It was released in Ireland on 5 October and in the UK on 7 October 2012.

In the week beginning 1 October, Lewis announced she was beginning preparations for the music video for Glassheart's next single. Near the end of October, Lewis said "Fireflies" had been selected because it would be "really powerful" in the run up to Christmas. On October 26, an official lyric video was published on Lewis's official VEVO account. "Fireflies" was recorded during the album's earlier recording sessions and previewed to journalists from The Guardian in September 2011; critics noted the strong gospel influences on the song and noted that Lewis's vocals were joined by a strings orchestra as the song progresses. Originally the song was to feature guest vocals from a male singer as per an interview Lewis gave with Digital Spy, however, the version for the album features just Lewis's vocals, while the Lips Choir provide background vocals. However on 5 November 2012, at the London Oxford Street Christmas light switch-on event, Lewis performed "Lovebird" live for the first time and introduced the song as her new single. Sony Music confirmed the news, announcing that "Lovebird" was being released as the lead single for Europe. "Lovebird" was released from 19 November 2012 in Europe, while its German and UK happened on 7 and 9 December respectively. In South Korea the song peaked at number twenty-two on the Gaon International Singles Chart. However as of 21 December 2012, in the UK, "Lovebird" sold fewer than 600 copies and thus failed to chart on one of the 200 positions on the UK Singles Chart.

Response

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(60/100)
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
BBC Music	mixed
Daily Mirror
Digital Spy
Evening Standard
Financial Times
The Guardian
The Independent
The Observer
Virgin Media

Glassheart received generally mixed reviews from music critics. It received praise for the decisions to experiment with dubstep, bubblegum pop and electronic music on some of the tracks but there was some criticism towards the ballads with critics divided over the number included on the album and their relatively quality to the more up-tempo songs. Ludovic Hunter-Tilney from the Financial Times said that the delays in releasing Glassheart actually worked in Lewis's favour, by forcing her to "confront her lack of [musical] direction." Hunter-Tilney praised both the Mariah Carey-styled vocals and use of "echoing snare drums" throughout many of the album's songs. He concluded by saying that the Glassheart "strays out of her comfort zone," perhaps due to fellow British singer-songwriter Adele's "preponderance over break-up" songs. The Daily Mirror's Dean Piper also noted similarities to Adele, commenting that although both Lewis and Adele had worked with producer Fraser T. Smith on their respective albums Glassheart and 21, Lewis's album would "not translate to a universal audience" like 21 did. However Piper did call the comparison unfair because Glassheart for "reminds you what an extraordinary talent Leona is," he also said "there's no doubting the music is good and Glassheart does appear to be her most personal album to date." Amongst the songs Piper picked out were the radio-friendly "Un Love Me", the serious "Favourite Scar" and the controlled-ballad "Fingerprint". Another positive review came from Digital Spy's Lewis Corner who said that Lewis surprised on "the pacey numbers full of angst and torment that standout". Commending Lewis's vocal falsetto, Corner awarded Lewis five out of five stars and ended by saying "Like many artists before her, Leona has channelled the darker side of love's grasp into her work – and the result is nothing short of spectacular."

Matthew Horton writing for Virgin Media praised Lewis for experimenting with dubstep on "Come Alive" and bubblegum pop on "Shake You Up," describing both songs as experiments that work. Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian newspaper picked up on the album's composition and described it as too heavily reliant on ballads, saying the issue was that it was "an area where Adele now has the advantage." However Sullivan did go on to say that "for once Lewis has made an album that's worth turning up – in parts, at least." She praised songs like the electronic and dubstep "Come Alive", the house and grime-inspired title track and the hip hop-flavoured "Trouble". Fraser McAlpine from BBC Music gave the album a mixed review saying that Glassheart "largely plays up to expectations". He criticised the subject matter, noting that many of the songs revisit familiar territory on how "she is always unlucky in love, unless she is swooning in melancholy bliss." McAlpine did praise the production throughout the album, noting that "over the course of these 12 songs there are all sorts of production nods to happier music" but also pointing out that on most songs "[Lewis] sounds devastated." In part "its her natural tone of voice," McAlpine concluded, as well as noting that there were not really any up-tempo songs, just songs that weren't ballads, but adding that it didn't matter as "the songs that tend to fly best, on their own terms at least, are the uncluttered muscle ballads." The Independent's Hugh Montgomery also gave the album a mixed review, saying that "obviously there's still swathes of antiseptic balladry best described as 'music to fold towels by'." However not all of his review was negative, Montgomery said the album attempted to make Lewis "current again" by including songs penned by Emeli Sandé, a "Bond theme manqué" and "obviously and actually rather effectively, some dubstep." Critics Robert Copsey and Lewis Corner from Digital Spy put Glassheart at number nine in their Top 20 albums of 2012, Copsey and Corner said that despite being renowned for ballads, "it's the pacey numbers full of angst and torment that stand out." Later in a poll of 25,000 people, conducted by the website, readers voted Glassheart the fifth best album of 2012 with 9.8% share of the vote, behind Emeli Sandé's Our Version of Events, Babel (album) by Mumford and Sons, Lana Del Rey's Born to Die and Fall to Grace by Paloma Faith.

Commercial performance

According to mid-week predictions from the Official Charts Company, Glassheart was expected to chart at number two on the UK Albums Chart, 4,000 copies behind the week's biggest seller, 18-year old Nottingham singer-songwriter Jake Bugg's self-titled debut album. Upon the release of the final chart, Glassheart debuted at number three with 27,000 copies sold, 8,000 copies behind that week's number one, Bugg's self-titled debut album, and 1000 copies behind Mumford and Sons's second album Babel. Glassheart thus became Lewis' first album not to debut at number one. Its first week sales represent a stark decline from Spirit (2007), which opened with 375,000 copies and the 161,000 copies that Echo (2009) sold in its first week On the UK Download Chart, Glassheart fared better, debuting at number two, having beaten Babel, but losing out to Bugg's debut album. Glassheart dropped out of the Top 100 of the UK albums chart after just four weeks.

In Scotland, the album also debuted at number three. Meanwhile on the Irish Albums Chart, Glassheart debuted at number four, becoming Lewis's third top-five peaking album in Ireland behind 2007's Spirit (peaked at number one) and 2009's Echo (peaked at number two). In continental Europe, Glassheart was also considerably less successful than Lewis' previous releases. It debuted at number twenty-nine in Switzerland, spending two weeks in the top-fifty on the Swiss Albums Chart. Additionally in Spain, Glassheart opened at number fifty-four, whereas Echo peaked in the top-twenty and Spirit peaked in the top-thirty.

Track listing

Standard edition (CD Catalogue #88697963782)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Trouble"	Shahid Khan, Emeli Sandé, Harry Craze, Hugo Chegwin, Fraser T Smith, Leona Lewis, James Murray, Mustafa Omer	Smith, Naughty Boy, Chris Loco[a], Orlando "Jalil Beats" Tucker[b]	3:41
2.	"Un Love Me"	Smith, Bonnie McKee, Kelly Sheehan, Lewis	Smith, Loco	4:12
3.	"Lovebird"	McKee, Joshua Coleman, Lukasz Gottwald	Josh Abraham, Oligee, Ammo	3:32
4.	"Come Alive"	Smith, Ina Wroldsen	Smith, Loco, Tim Deluxe[b]	4:03
5.	"Fireflies"	Craigie Dodds	Dodds	3:55
6.	"I to You"	Christopher Crowhurst, Sandé	Smith, Loco	3:18
7.	"Shake You Up"	Rodney Jerkins, Olivia Waithe, Lewis	Jerkins	3:40
8.	"Stop the Clocks"	Smith, Jörgen Elofsson, Rachel Moulden, Lewis	Smith	4:01
9.	"Favourite Scar"	Ryan Tedder, Noel Zancanella, Lewis, Roland Orzabal, Curt Smith	Tedder, Zancanella	3:36
10.	"When It Hurts"	Khan, Andrea Martin, Luke Juby	Smith, Naughty Boy	3:12
11.	"Glassheart"	Tedder, Brent Kutzle, Zancanella, Justin Franks, Fis Shkreli, Lewis, Peter Svensson	DJ Frank E, Tedder, Zancanella[a], Kutzle[a], Shrkeli[a]	3:56
12.	"Fingerprint"	Smith, LP, Lewis	Smith	4:07
13.	"Trouble" (featuring Childish Gambino)	Khan, Sandé, Craze, Chegwin, Smith, Lewis, Murray, Omer	Smith, Naughty Boy, Loco[a], Orlando "Jalil Beats" Tucker[b]	3:42
Total length:				48:51

Deluxe edition – Disc 2 (CD Catalogue #88725476052)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Trouble" (Acoustic)	Khan, Sandé, Craze, Chegwin, Smith, Lewis, Murray, Omer	Smith	3:43
2.	"Come Alive" (Acoustic)	Smith, Wroldsen	Smith	4:25
3.	"Glassheart" (Acoustic)	Tedder, Kutzle, Zancanella, Franks, Shkreli, Lewis, Svensson	Tommy King, Ira Glansbeeik	3:46
4.	"Colorblind"	David Bryson, Adam Duritz, Charlie Gillingham, Mattew Malley, Ben Mize, Daniel Vickery	Smith	3:22
5.	"Sugar"	Alexander Shuckburg, Sandé	Al Shux	3:36
6.	"Collide (Afrojack Remix)" (Leona Lewis / Avicii)	Tim Berg, Simon Jeffes, Arash Pournouri, Autumn Rowe, Sandy Wilhelm	Sandy Vee, The Young Boys[b], Afrojack[b]	5:54
Total length:				24:44

iTunes Store bonus video

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Glassheart" (Live Acoustic)	Tedder, Kutzle, Zancanella, Franks, Shkreli, Lewis, Svensson	3:49
Total length:			28:33

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies co-producer
• ^{^b} signifies additional producer
• "Favourite Scar" contains a sample of "Head over Heels" performed by Tears for Fears and written by Roland Orzabal & Curt Smith.
• "Collide" contains a sample of "Perpetuum Mobile" by Simon Jeffes.

Credits

Adapted from album credits and album liner.

Recording studios

• Denver, Colorado – Patriot Studios
• London, United Kingdom – Air Studios, Air Edel Studios, Angel Recording Studios, The Dairy Studios, Metropolis Studios, MyAudioTonic Studios (The Matrix), The Pool
• Los Angeles, California- 2nd Floor Studios, Harmony Recording Studios, Henson Recording Studios, Side 3 Studios, Pulse Recording, Westlake Recording Studios, UMPG Studios

Personnel

Vocals

• Leona Lewis – lead vocals, background vocals (on 7. "Shake You Up")
• Eemia – background vocals (on 6. "I to You")
• Livvi Franc – background (on 7. "Shake You Up")
• Childish Gambino – guest vocals (on 13. "Trouble")
• Ladonna Harley Peters – background vocals (on 1."Trouble", 2. "Un Love Me", 4. "Come Alive", 8. "Stop the Clocks", 10. "When it Hurts", 12. "Fingerprint")
• Emeli Sandé – background vocals (on 6. "I to You", disc 2 – 5. "Sugar")
• Ina Wroldsen – background vocals (on 4. "Come Alive")

Visuals

• Guy Aroch – photographer
• Roma Martyniuk – art direction
• Graham Rounthwaite – cover design

Management

• Kim Lumpkin – production co-ordination
• Greg Morgan – sound design
• Fraser T Smith – executive producer

Musicians and technicians

• Josh Abraham – producer
• Phil Allen – engineer
• Beatriz Artola – engineer
• Brandon N. Caddell – assistant engineer
• Smith Carlson – engineer
• Stephanie Cavey – violinist
• Matt Chamberlin – engineer
• Matt Champlin – mixing technician
• Hugo Chegwin – composer
• Joshua "Ammo" Coleman – producer, composer
• Harry Craze – composer
• Christopher Crowhurst (Chris Loco) – drum programming, guitar, keyboards, producer, programming, composer
• Rosie Danvers – cello, string arrangements
• Tim Deluxe – additional production
• Craigie Dodds – composer, drums, engineer, guitar, keyboard, piano, producer, programming
• Alison Dods – violin
• Jörgen Elofsson – composer
• Guy Farley – string arrangements, string conductor
• Justin Franks (DJ Frank E) – composer, producer
• Fraser T. Smith – composer, drum programming, drums, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion, piano, producer, programming
• Mike Freesh – bass, drum programming, synthesizer
• Ben Georgiadis – string engineer
• Serban Ghenea – Mixing
• Lukasz Gottwald – composer
• Alex Graupera – assistant engineer, engineer
• Matty Green – mixing assistant
• Jack Guy – engineer
• John Hanes – mixing engineer
• Helen Hawthorn – violin
• Charlie Hugall – engineer, percussion
• Sally Jackson – violin
• Bryony James – cello
• Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins – composer, mixing, musician, producer
• Becky Jones – viola
• Luke Juby – composer
• Patrick Kiernan – violin
• Shahid "Naughty Boy" Khan – composer, producer
• Brent Kutzle – composer, producer
• Colin Leonard – mastering
• Leona Lewis – composer
• Steve Mair – double bass
• Andrea Martin – composer
• Trent Mazur – drum programming, guitar, synthesizer
• Bonnie McKee – composer
• James Murray – composer
• Oligee – producer
• Mustafa Omer – composer
• Roland Orzabal – composer
• Brent Paschke – guitar
• Kerenza Peacock – violin
• Laura Pergolizzi – composer
• Steve Price – string engineer
• Brian Ray – guitar
• Daniela Rivera – assistant engineer, engineer
• Jenny Sacha – violin
• Emeli Sandé – Composer
• Phil Seaford – mixing sssistant
• Sarah Sexton – violin
• Kelly Sheehan – Composer
• Fio "Alastor" Shkreli (Fis Shkreli) – composer, drum programming, producer
• Curt Smith – composer
• Ash Soan – drums
• Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
• Peter Svensson – composer
• Phil Tan – mixing
• Ryan Tedder – composer, instrumentation, producer
• Orlando "Jalil Beats" Tucker – additional production, programming
• Olivia Waithe (Livvi Franc) – composer
• Seth Waldmann – engineer, vocal recording
• Bruce White – viola
• Darin "Piano Man" Whittington – drums, keyboards
• Deborah Widdup – violin
• Ryan Williams – engineer
• The Wired Strings – strings
• Ina Wroldsen – composer
• Noel Zancanella – composer, instrumentation, producer

Charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart	29
Irish Albums (IRMA)	4
Scottish Albums (OCC)	3
South Korean International Albums (Gaon)	13
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)	54
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	29
UK Albums (OCC)	3

Release history

Table of countries, dates and release information

Region	Date	Editions	Label
Ireland	12 October 2012	Standard, Deluxe	Sony Music Entertainment
United Kingdom	15 October 2012	Standard, Deluxe	Syco Music
Italy	5 November 2012	Standard	Sony Music Entertainment
Belgium	23 November 2012	Standard
Hong Kong		Standard, deluxe
Netherlands		Standard
Norway		Standard
Switzerland		Standard
France	26 November 2012	Standard, Deluxe
Portugal		Standard
Spain	27 November 2012	Standard, Deluxe
Taiwan		Deluxe
Denmark	28 November 2012	Deluxe
Finland		Standard, Deluxe
Sweden		Standard, Deluxe
Australia	30 November 2012	Standard, Deluxe
Germany	11 January 2013	Deluxe
United States	Spring 2013	—	RCA Records