Free Me

Free Me is the second studio album by English singer Emma Bunton, released on 9 February 2004 by 19 Recordings. The album peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart and spawned three top-10 singles: "Free Me", "Maybe" and "I'll Be There". With this album, Bunton became the only former Spice Girl to have sold more copies of her second album than her first. Background In 2001, Bunton released her solo debut album A Girl Like Me through Virgin Records. It spent over 12 weeks inside the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number four and earning a gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It also produced her only solo chart-topper "What Took You So Long?" and the top-five single "Take My Breath Away". Bunton explained that she left Virgin Records due to a lack of support from the label, citing a desire to work with a label "where I know people are going to be right behind me and work as hard as I do.'" Composition The album was inspired by 1960s sounds, such as bossa nova, Motown and French pop. The album was largely produced by Mike Peden and Yak Bondy, who have produced tracks for acts such as S Club 7 and Lucie Silvas. Other contributions on the album are courtesy of Cathy Dennis, Henry Binns, and Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi. The album was released via 19 Recordings, which is a division of 19 Management, the company owned by Simon Fuller. Bunton says of the inspiration behind the album: "I've been listening to Motown since I was about five, and just loving it, being very passionate about the fact how it was all done live, and I thought, 'Hold on, I always talk about the fact I love '60s and Motown', so I thought I'd take elements of it, bits of it, and put it into my album, so that's exactly what I did." However, Bunton's songs on this album mainly started life as a simple scribble. She says, "I have a little book beside my bed, where I put all my ideas for songs and stuff. It's kind of weird, 'cuz usually when I'm having a dream, I'll wake up, and I'll write something down, then I'll look at it again and think, 'God, what was I dreaming about?'" Singles The album's lead single, "Free Me", was released in May 2003. The song immediately picked up airplay, peaking at number five on the UK Singles Chart.