Lea Michele On Going Back To Her Roots & Embracing Her Sound On 'Places'

Places, everyone! That is the inspiration behind Lea Michele's new album title - a tribute to her days on Broadway and the moment before the curtain goes up. Lea released her sophomore album Places, the followup to 2014's Louder, taking the time from her first album to figure out her true sound and identity as an artist. Being influenced by vocal powerhouses like Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion, Places packs a punch not only in the feels, but in Lea's own dynamic voice -- as evidenced by the album's lead single, a big, beautiful ballad by the name of "Love Is Alive." 

Lea's Places has been three years in the making, and she tells us that she wanted to make sure she was finished with Glee, which ended in 2015, so that she could devote her singing voice solely to this project. "With Glee it was really hard to be singing as Rachel Berry every week, but then going on the weekends and trying to be a solo artist. To create that was difficult," Lea tells us. "I'm used to being busy, and I'm used to having a lot to juggle, which I think is why I'm able to do a lot at once. But vocally, I wasn't doing anything other than just working on this album when I started it three years ago."

The Road To Musical Self-Discovery

Lea's first album Louder was a lot more pop-focused than Places, however, the singer/actress's true sound and identity as a solo artist can be found on her newest album. She says, "I think that I feel very fully realized now as a solo artist. When I came out with my first record, I was in the midst of filming Glee and I went in a little bit more of a pop direction with that album, which felt really exciting and great at the time, but I think deep down this album really does reflect much more of who I am as an artist."

If you watched Glee, then you already know what powerful vocal range Lea has, and having been inspired by the music of a few vocal powerhouse icons, plus the experience of being on Broadway from a very young age, all of this makes up Lea's sound in Places. 

"I come from theatrical background on Broadway. I've been performing on the stage since I'm 8 years old, and I grew up listening to Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion. So I really wanted to go back more to my roots and really embrace my sound. It's very unique, and it may not be something that people hear on the radio every day, but really, what mattered the most to me is that I made something truly authentic to who I am, and I think that this album is an incredible representation of my voice and who I am as an artist, and also where I'm at in my life right now."

Making Timeless Music With Powerful Messages

One of Lea's goals while creating Places was to make music that is timeless. Songs that fans will listen to years and years from now that they can still connect to. She tells us, "I wanted them to be timeless, kind of like when you listen to any of Adele's albums, like that's a timeless record. We'll listen to that in 10 years and it's still gonna connect with us."

And in terms of lyrical content, Lea made sure every song had a message behind it, and says that there are many incredible love songs on the record, as well as powerful, uplifting and inspiring songs (see "Anything's Possible"). "If you've ever been in love, or you're looking for that really good love song that you can just listen to, that just kind of breaks your heart, there's a couple of those on there. And then there are also some really incredible inspiring and motivational [songs]; those roll-down-windows and blast when you need a pick me up, or you're in a SoulCycle class; there are those songs as well."

Lea tells us that because many of her fans are young girls, she hopes she can be a good role model for them and that her music can help empower them. "I think that there's an overall message of love on the album, but there's a definite underlying tone of strength," she tells us. "With songs like 'Believer,' and 'Anything's Possible,' and 'Proud,' and 'Tornado,' they're really strong female, powerful independent songs. And that's really important to me, because I have an incredible fan base, a lot of which are girls, and I hope that I can be the best role model for them. I wanted there to be songs on the album that they could relate to and that could hopefully be inspiring and motivating for them."

And going back to songs that break your heart, there is a breakup song on Places called "Sentimental Memories." The songstress says, "'Sentimental Memories,' that's a breakup song. I was like 'Oh gosh, I'm actually gonna put this out there, and perform it, and let people hear that.' Anything that I've written is nerve-racking for me, because it's like a little look into my personal life."

Setting the tone with "Love Is Alive"

When listening to Places, fans will certainly notice the songs on the album are vocally challenging -- which was very much on purpose. Lea tells us, "I didn't want to record songs that just anybody could sing. I wanted them to be hard, and I wanted to show what I could do."

Speaking of vocally challenging songs, the lead single off Places is a gorgeous ballad called "Love Is Alive." According to Lea, it was one of the first songs that she recorded for the album, and it set the tone for the rest of the music that she wanted to include. 

"That song reminded me of the 90s Celine [Dion] songs that I used to listen to; those four minute epic vocal songs that she used to just start and you went on this whole ride. Her songs were my inspiration. I really wanted those songs to kind of have a rebirth. I feel like you don't hear songs like that anymore. So that was the real inspiration. And when we heard 'Love is Alive,' I said 'This is it, this is the theme, this is the overall core of what would become Places.' It was one of the first songs that I recorded, and we put it on the top, and we said everything has to be as good as 'Love is Alive,' because it's sort of like a triple hit. The theme that feels so spot on for me, vocally it feels so perfect for me, it really shows off my voice and who I am, and I think that it would explain what Places is, is just to listen to 'Love is Alive.'"

Photos: Rachel Kaplan