Get Thee Back to the Studio

The latest news on the long-awaited Katharine McPhee album is...well...await a bit longer.

Those of you who were hoping to add a little McPheever to your Christmas stocking stuffers are going to have to do it next year. Kat's album won't hit the streets until sometime in 2007. The label isn't exactly saying why, though in a recent MTV.com interview, Kat strongly suggests it was her idea, saying she wanted to take time to record the right kind of album.

I'm not really sure how to react to that. First of all, rookie artists rarely have the power to boss around their labels, much less mega-moguls like Clive Davis. There's been speculation that there has been some dissatisfaction with the tracks she's already laid down, and some feel that Clive Davis may have ordered her back to the studio, much like he did with Ruben on his first release. Second, I have to question the wisdom behind any sort of delay, especially when there have already been two solid releases (three, if you count Ayla's) from this season. Already the release schedule on this year's Idols has been sort of helter skelter. This is the first year that I'm aware of where not one but two non-top-three contestants have been allowed a CD release ahead of the winner and runner-up, much less having those same albums published by 19 themselves. One could make the argument that one is not going to get just a whole lot better than the fabulous releases by Kellie Pickler and Chris Daughtry.

As for the sound of the new album, it looks to be headed away from classics and standards and headed more toward pop R&B. With people like Babyface, the Neptunes, and Danjahandz Hills, we can probably expect a pretty predictable, Christina Aguilera-esque offering. And while I'm hopeful, from the looks of things, this album may make Bo Bice's release of yesteryear look like a brain-trust in comparison.

Katharine also said that most of her lyrics will not be personal or related to her life. So, does this mean the album is going to be completely generic? Seriously, I'm not sure how you expect to own a song if you're not going to be willing to open yourself with it. She states ""I'm not going to write a song about 'Daddy, you really hurt me,' like, I'm not going to go into complete details of my personal life." That may or may not be a cheap shot at Kellie Pickler's album, which did contain a great deal of personal revelation, in particular about her mother and her imperfect life, which I might add, improved Kellie's album dramatically.

However, if the career doesn't work, Katharine has a back-up plan. "If I don't have a hit record then I'll try the record thing again and try the movie thing. And then [if those don't work] I'll just get knocked up and be a happy married woman."

Class, Katharine. Don't lose it.

---------------------------------------------------

P.S. Anthony Fedorov fans: Nelly called today.

UPDATE: American Idol 4 fans, listen up. Jaclyn Crum from Season 4 will be interviewing with me this weekend. Look for the interview, coming soon!