For The Original High, we aren’t being introduced to a new Adam Lambert, just a more vulnerable and open incarnation of himself.
The American Idol alum has come a long way since his placement as the show’s runner-up during its eighth season in 2009. Lambert isn’t traversing genres, but he is refining his own brand of pop music on his third studio album — and first since parting ways with RCA Records — The Original High.
“It’s definitely, definitely pop. The songs are instantly catchy and hooky,” Lambert describes the sound from the album. “I feel like the subject matter is a little more melancholy, a little more bittersweet than some of the stuff I’ve done in the past.”
Lambert’s ability to emotionally open up and allowance to be exposed can be attributed to working with top producers Max Martin and Shellback. Both Martin and Shellback worked with Lambert on his 2009 debut and encouraged the singer to pull back when needed, stay grounded, and allow a more somber tone not normally accompanied in his recordings.
“It allowed me to be more vulnerable… more emotion comes through in certain moments and that’s what I’m so pleased with,” recalls Lambert of his time in the studio. “I feel like it pulls the listener in a little bit more.”
Lambert’s new approach to pop can be heard in The Original High‘s lead single, “Ghost Town”; a grittier guitar sound interspersed with the occasional dance beat, wrapped together with lyrics like:
“Died last night in my dreams / Walking the streets / Of some old ghost town / I tried to believe / In God and James Dean / But Hollywood sold out”
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Obviously, inspiration for the album came from outside the studio and the presence of renowned producers like Martin and Shellback. Before he began writing for The Original High, Lambert and his circle of friends would have, what Lambert describes as, “deep Oprah moments”; conversations over coffee or drinks that dig deep into each other’s longing for answers.
“One of the things I noticed that we were all going through was kind of like, ‘OK, I want something in my life, we’re all longing for something, but we can’t quite put our finger on what it is that’s going to make us happy.'”
“Is it totally sad and depressing? No,” adds Lambert. “It just kind of is, and it’s accepting that kind of being OK with not knowing and not having answers.”
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Will his loyal Glamberts be accepting of his more more introspective method and less theatrical pop style? Lambert certainly believes they will be and he’s excited for feedback.
“I just can’t wait for everybody to hear the songs,” says Lambert. “They don’t even know what they’re in for. I think there’s going to be some surprises.”
The Original High will be released in the US on June 16th through Warner Bros. Records.