Is Leona on her way back ?

Fans of Leona Lewis had reason to get excited recently, when a newspaper report suggested new material could be here sooner rather than later and a new single could premier to coincide with her appearance at the forthcoming Radio 1 Hackney Weekend, which is being held to celebrate the London Olympics.

Her 3rd studio album titled GlassHeart had garnered many promising previews from critics and press alike – especially for Emile Sande penned track ’Trouble’ – and was originally set to be released in November last year, shortly after last single Collide, which unfortunately failed to set the charts alight though reached a respectable number 4.

Seemingly, it’s average performance scared the label into pushing the release date back and fans were left both disappointed and perplexed when out of nowhere, music sites such as HMV and Amazon listed the album with a March 2012 release date instead. The only explanation given for this was that Leona had “been inspired” to write more tracks and produce a better album. Of course, March has now been and gone and fans are still left waiting, with rumours suggesting a further delay of a November release and we are constantly being told it’s “coming soon” and it’s “being perfected” by Leona and her team.

Fortunately, supporters haven’t been completely deprived though, with an EP of covers being released around Christmas as a stop gap and the album’s title track GlassHeart being performed regulary by her in various shows over the last few months, which fans have been lucky enough to hear through youtube. The Ryan Tedder produced track is a upbeat dance number with a dark and haunting edge, that many think could have made a better single release than Collide and perhaps performed better in the charts. Maybe we wouldn’t even be in this situation now if it had. Is it a taster of what we can expect when she finally comes out with new material? Or did the label get scared and the delay is a result of going back to square one and she’s been sent back to the drawing board to record some new big power ballads instead, hoping to re-create the chart hits of Bleeding Love and Run?

Either way, if the report is to be believed, fans finally have something to cling onto and look forward to, if they dare. Question is, after such a long time, will the music she comes back with live up to expectation, will it be a new sound or the same old power ballads and most importantly, will it be the hit she needs to get her career back on track?

Could GlassHeart be a hit for Leona? Can she pull off Dance Music or does she need another Bleeding Love?