Oh man, oh man. I DO NOT want to like this but I’m afraid I have to agree with Popjustice here when they call the new Alesha Dixon (AKA ‘Alesha‘) single “a bit of a grower.” The first single off of her forthcoming third studio album The Entertainer (due out in November), “Drummer Boy” will be released in the UK September 6th. At first listen, the Shama Joseph-produced song is nothing more than a lot of shouting but the more you listen to the song, especially when accompanied by the mesmerizing Ray Kay-directed music video, the more you like it. Alesha was never the one with the greatest voice but that didn’t stop her from forging ahead with her solo career. More power to her. She’s got energy for days and she’s an absolute stunner.
If you haven’t heard of Alesha Dixon, you may remember British R&B girl group Mis-Teeq (Dixon, Sabrina Washington, Su-Elise Nash) who had one modest hit in America with “Scandalous” back in 2004. While the song only managed to peak at #35 in the U.S. it was a Top 2 hit in the UK. After the group broke up in 2005 Alesha Dixon was the first of the girls to try for solo success. First single, “Lipstick” peaked at #14 on the UK singles charts but follow up single, “Knock Down” only managed to hit #45, resulting in her label, Polydor scrapping her album’s UK release. The album was later released in Japan. After parting ways with Polydor, Dixon signed with Asylum Records (in association with Warner Music Group) and released The Alesha Show, which peaked at #11 and spawned two Top 5 hits (“The Boy Does Nothing” and “Breathe Slow“). Dixon also saw success on UK television where she won the UK version of Dancing With The Stars called Strictly Come Dancing, later returning as a judge.
Dixon’s new album The Entertainer, pairs her up with Jim Beanz, Xenomania, Buzbee and Soulshock & Karlin. Collaborations with Rodney Jerkins and Gary Barlow are also rumored to be in the works. As if UK chart domination isn’t all Alesha has to worry about, it appears that she’s planning to try her luck in America as well, at least according to producer Jim Beanz. “We’re going to build some up-tempo dance songs to take the UK and the US by storm” (via The Daily Star). Watch the action-packed video for “Drummer Boy” below.