Emeli Sandé makes US debut on Capitol Records with 'Our Version of Events'

Emili Sandé makes US debut on Capitol Records

Label will release debut album 'Our Version of Events' in June 2012

Scottish-born singer and songwriter Emeli Sandé, who has been thrilling fans across the Atlantic over the past year with her rich, soulful voice and sophisticated songwriting, will release her debut album in the US, entitled Our Version of Events, in late spring.

The recent winner of the BRIT Critics' Choice award (previous winners include Adele and Florence + the Machine), Sandé's album will include UK singles, "Heaven," which climbed to No. 2 on the British singles chart, and the recently released "Daddy," which she performed on the UK edition of The X Factor.

Emeli Sandé - Heaven (Later with Jools Holland) video:

Emeli Sandé - Daddy ft. Naughty Boy video:

Sandé has also been hand-selected by superstar rock band Coldplay to open its current arena tour, including shows in London, Paris, The Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium this month.

She also opened for Alicia Keys earlier this year in London. Keys was so impressed she told UK magazine Dazed and Confused Sandè's, "a magnificent new artist... We did some writing together for my upcoming record. I just love her style and her flow - super raw" and Adele, upon viewing Sandè's performance on Jools Holland, simply Tweeted "How incredible is she?"

Sandé was born and raised in Aberdeen, Scotland, the daughter of a Zambian father and a Cumbrian mother. A fervent songwriter since the age of 10, she relocated to Glasgow for college where she studied medicine for six years before deciding to commit herself to a life as a musical artist.

She scored her first Top 10 hit with "Diamond Rings," a track she wrote for British rapper Chipmunk, and scored another, "Never Be Your Woman", with grime DJ Wiley. A favorite of music impresario Simon Cowell, who called her "his favorite songwriter at the moment" and tapped her to write for Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle, Sandé has also worked with Tinie Tempah, Cheryl Cole, and Professor Green, scoring the No. 1 "Read All About It" with him.

Our Version of Events, which will be released in her native land in February, reveals Sandé to be an uncompromising creative force in the vein of Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, and Lauryn Hill - each of whom Sandé namechecks as a key influence on her heady, unforgettable sound. Taking a cue from Mitchell and her other songwriting idols, she achieves an irresistible contemporary-yet-timeless quality on Our Version of Events.

"I can still relate to a Joni song, even though it's 25 years old, which is what is important to me," she says. "I'm not too bothered about what category my music goes in and there's no point in limiting who you can reach, but I want it to be respected."

As The UK's ID magazine has noted: "Emeli Sandé is not the next so and so. She's the person other acts will be compared to in the coming years."

Look out for Sandè in the US this February, dates to be announced.

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