Kris Allen Works With The Fray’s Joe King
Along with with former Evanescence member David Hodges, hip-hop producer Salaam Remi (Amy Winehouse), and Claude Kelly (Leona Lewis, Akon), Idol winner, Kris Allen is collaborating with songwriter and guitarist, Joe King from The Fray on his upcoming post-Idol debut album.
Last weekend, Kris flew to Virginia Beach, VA to work in the studio for a few days with King where they demoed a song. All it took for the two to get together was an email from Kris to King, who immediately answered yes.
King spoke with MTV about what it was like to work with Kris.
“I’m literally in the studio mixing the rough demo right now,” King said via telephone from Toronto (the Fray just began the first leg of their North American tour). “It doesn’t have a title yet. It doesn’t even have lyrics à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ but there is a lot of gibberish.”
King said there wasn’t any romance to how they got together à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ he simply responded “Yes” to Allen’s e-mail. “I didn’t even see most of the show because we were on tour in Europe and Australia,” he explained. “But I found out he won when we got back and I saw he did ‘Heartless,’ so I was aware of him when he contacted me.”
“It was a very good vibe in the studio. There was no pressure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ we just had breakfast, got to know each other,” King said. “It was all very organic after that.” Though they recorded in Timbaland’s studio, the super-producer wasn’t present during the sessions. “But Timbaland’s brother was there along with his crew, and it added this great energy to the session. When the boys heard the track, they started hanging around.” King was happy to get some feedback from an outside source, as well as receiving a killer compliment. “Timbaland’s brother said if Timbaland was upstairs and he heard this melody, he’d walk in the studio and say, ‘That’s a melody.’ ”
Above all, it was fun. “At the end of the session, we cranked up ‘Bounce’ in the studio and got down,” he said. “They’re following Kris’ progress on film, so there’s video of us white boys shaking it to Timbaland songs in his studio, which I hope doesn’t get out there.”
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64 Responses to “Kris Allen Works With The Fray’s Joe King”
It seems like it’s one song. From what I’m reading, it seems like they worked on putting the music together and have a general feeling of what and how the song will go, but not the actual lyrics.
I can understand why Kris wanted to work with them since Kris is all about their lyrics. The Fray’s songs do tell stories and isn’t just regular pop fluff.
hehe….i feel the same too but i think in a good creepy way :lol_tb:
You Know Whatà ¯ ¼Ã… ¸If Kris really want to try out something urban, he can change up some songs and make duets with urban/r&b artists. I’ll recommand him to sing the Janet Jackson Got ’til it’s Gone which sampled from Joni Mitchell song Big Yellow Taxi. Made it more into a folky style!
But I guess Janet won’t bother to give that song to Kris. What a shame.
who are all these wierd people???? i’ve only heard of Gregg Alexander from the New Radicals but thats also cos i love their song “You get what you give”
Aw, I know who all of them are, but I’m in my mid-30’s, so, they’re my people! Evan Dando would be a good match for Kris. He wrote great pop songs and was sort of the Pete Yorn of the day. I had a huge crush on him! Search for the Lemonheads on YouTube, you might be pleasantly surprised.
I think Kris is assertive as to which artists he wants to collaborate with. He certainly knows his business and what he wants. I’m really impressed. Good job, Kris. Keep it up.
I think Kris would do really well to do the acoustic rock think with a soul/hip hop edge. Mraz does the reggae edge, Mayer does the bluesy edge. Kris can start carving out his own little niche there.
I *love* the Lemonheads! They are from MA and do (well, did) kind of edgy pop, like “It’s a Shame About Ray.” If you haven’ heard them, go to youtube and check them out.
It’s funny, b/c I listen to Gavin DeGraw and Jason Mraz a lot, and could see Kris going this way. Not John Mayer, however, or Jack Johnson. DeGraw has three albums, Chariot, Gavin DeGraw, and Free. I like all three of them. Chariot has two parts: the original and the acoustic part, and they are both very good. I also like The Fray a lot, and one could do worse.
I agree-he will find his own niche. I wonder how he will add a hip/hop edge but I can see soul for sure. I’m looking forward to his album a lot. He will work with strong producers and go his own way (as he did, say, with the way he changed up Kanye’s Heartless, which, I agree, was *much* better than Kanye’s version).
“Into Your Arms” is one of my favorite songs ever, and if Kris could create something like that, while injecting his soulful vibe–wow, it’d be amazing.
totally agree. thats the impression i got from kris’ AI performances…that he’s a pop/rock/soul guy. and there is a niche for him in today’s market.
and i really do hope that it was Kris who initiated the contact w. J.King. shows that once again, he knows who he is as an artist and is going out there to get what HE (not the label) wants….thats just my take on it.
Suebrody “I wonder how he will add a hip/hop edge but I can see soul for sure.”
There are many so called hip-hop creations that have great lyrics/stories and even some great melodies. If Kris could collab with Kanye who is a good songwriter (lousy singer) it may work. Gavin DG and the Fray are prob closer to Kris’ current sensibilites but he is talented and he will learn so much from this experience. I fully expect an Allen sound in the future.
What bothers me is the implication that Kris should improve his vocal training and showmanship. Why?! He appeals to many people who may think the Blue Men Group is quite boring.
efm: Oh, Into My Arms is one of my all-time favorite songs. Yes, Kris could definitely do a Lemonheads type of album. They have a great hits CD that I highly recommend.
Who says that Kris needs to improve his singing? No. But I love, love, love Gavin DeGraw, as I mentioned (who has three very different albums), and I can see Kris going down that route. Jason Mraz’s latest album also has an acoustic side to it, and I hear echoes of Kris in there. Not that he should be a copy cat, but there are a lot of bands and singer/songwriters that have the kind of vibe I can see Kris going for.
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oohh wow!! i have listened to Into Your Arms so many times on radio and also on Heroes season 1 and looovveed the song but for some reason never found out who the singer was!! so its sung by The Lemonheads? cool…definitely gonna check them out on youtube and deezer now (: