I wanted to make music people could shake their booties to and use beats for the first time. Basically, I wanted to make a party record. The room was so blessed with talent. I was very lucky to work with people who are at the top of their game. I have never worked until 4 a.m. before. I wouldn’t go in until late in the afternoon and then we’d work until the wee hours of morning if we had it in us. I started bringing a blanket with me. Timbaland toiled on half of the tracks on Ashlee’s upcoming release, tentatively titled Bittersweet World. He lent his expertise on “Out of My Head (Ay Ya Ya),” “Murder,” “Can’t Have It All,” and “Rulebreaker” while the rest were guided by Chad Hugo and critically acclaimed Ethiopian synth-hop savant Kenna.
More help came courtesy of Travis McCoy, the frontman of Gym Class Heroes, who raps on “Murder.” Don’t let the somber title fool you. The 23-year-old has not gone gangsta. “No, it isn’t serious, based on a true story or a threat,” she explains laughing. “It’s a metaphor about a girl who can get away with murder because of who she is”. She also touches on the cattiness of girls on “Hot Stuff,” a coquette-ish sassiness on “Boys” and how fun it is to sometimes do the wrong thing on “Rulebreaker.” She was trying “to capture that badass feeling you get sometimes after watching a movie like True Romance. You think you can take on the world and you want to color outside the lines and get a tattoo or mouth off to someone way bigger than you.” Her personal favorite is the slow jam “Never Dream Alone,” because “it is a sweet emotional song that has been stripped down to piano, strings and vocals.” She also wrote or co-wrote every track .
starpulse.com
Ashlee Simpson – Bittersweet World (2008) “Due March”
“Confirmed Tracks”
– Boys (C.Hugo,Kenna)
– No Time For Tears
– Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya) (Timbaland,Kenna)
– Rule Breaker (Timbaland)
– Murder feat. Travis McCoy (Gym Class Heroes) (Timbaland)
– Can’t Have It All (Timbaland)
– Never Dream Alone
– Hot Stuff