Lea Michele P 2014
Todd Williamson/Invision for SodaStream/APImagesLea Michele‘s much-anticipated debut album Louder, released March 3, kicks off with the self-empowerment track “Cannonball” and closes with “If You Say So,” the ballad titled with some of the last words she heard from her boyfriend and co-star Cory Monteith, who died last July.
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“I have to acknowledge what I’ve been through this year,” Michele told Billboard of Louder‘s playlist. “It was really difficult, which I think is represented in ‘If You Say So,’ and a song like ‘Cannonball’ represents finding strength and hope. These are the two sides of my life right now. The grief, but also the search for strength and hope. I really wanted those two songs to bookend the album. Really let everyone know where I’m at.”
The Glee breakout and Broadway alum worked with Sia, Christina Perri, Colin Munroe and Stargate on the album, which is sprinkled with bittersweet love songs like “Battlefield” and “Burn With You,” as well as dance-friendly offerings like the title track.
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Of the album’s final song, which she wrote after Monteith’s death, Michele noted that “listening to it, it’s therapeutic and difficult. It will always represent the most devastating thing that’s ever happened to me in my whole life.”
For more on Michele’s debut album, head to Billboard.com.
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