Cher Lloyd is obviously not a purveyor of bubblegum pop anymore.
Two years ago, Cher Lloyd released a single that was a definite contender for Song of the Summer called “Want U Back.” Don’t remember it? That’s OK. It was 2012, the summer of “Call Me Maybe,” “Somebody That I Used to Know” and “Starships.”
Lloyd, who first came to prominence in her homeland in 2010 after making it to the top four in the British version of “The X Factor,” has had an eventful few years. After releasing her debut, “Sticks & Stones” on Simon Cowell’s label, she had a falling out with the entertainment mogul, with whom she disagreed about her musical direction. It has been so long since the world has heard a full-length album from her, Lloyd decided to title her brand-new release, “Sorry I’m Late.”
“In one sense, I’m glad that we have waited, because I feel so good about everything right now,” says the singer in a chipper British accent. (She will turn 21 next month, by the way.)
“The main thing for me is that I have grown as a person,” she continues. “Before, it was all similar sounds, and very pop and very young as well, and now I feel like I’m at the point where I’m able to express myself in a completely different way.”
The recent video for her “Sirens” single is definitely a different way of expressing herself. It features a tearful Lloyd singing in the kitchen as the DEA barges in and arrests the bad boys who are involved in some nondescript illegal narcotic activity in her dining room.
“It’s not necessarily bubblegum pop,” says the singer about the new material. When talking further about the different sound, Lloyd says she credits the change to her increased involvement in making “Sorry I’m Late.”
“Every song on this album was picked by me, not by guys in suits,” she says.
When we ask Lloyd if her song, “M.F.P.O.T.Y.” (it stands for Mother F—ing Party Of The Year) is a contender for this year’s Song of the Summer, she is humble.
“I’m not sure,” she says. “I’m the type of artist that lets something go and do its own thing because I know my fans are really passionate. And it will possibly be their song for the summer.”
Lyrical analysis: ‘A butt and a rack’
Lloyd’s single “I Wish,” which came out last fall, features T.I. and functioned as a bridge of sorts to prepare fans for her new material. There’s a line in the song that we couldn’t help but ask her about: “I wish I woke up with a butt and a rack.”
“Doesn’t every young girl wish for that? … Of course they do,” she says. “That song for me was basically me revealing myself and saying I do wish for the things that I can’t have, and I think that’s relatable.”
