Irresistible (Jessica Simpson Album) - Background

Background

I have never been proud of something I've done creatively! Thanks to Tommy Mottola. Your direction has led me to a new place in life, a confident one. You have shown me how to reach in and believe. I have become a better artist because of your talents.

“ ” —Simpson, Irresistible liner notes

Simpson signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1998 and the next year she released her debut album titled Sweet Kisses. The album featured mostly ballads, and was targeted at a more mature audience than the works of her contemporaries, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Simpson even stayed true to her Christian beliefs and dressed conservatively, unlike her peers. The album only managed a peak of number twenty-five on the US Billboard 200, far from the success of her contemporaries. This led Simpson to reevaluate her career and although she was enjoying some success, she felt she could improve on this. Feeling her more "innocent" image would halt her career from developing further, Simpson adopted a sexier image and newer sound, at the suggestion of the Columbia executives

She moved into the teen-pop genre, as she felt that restyling herself to match the image of Spears and Aguilera would help remake her career. She separated from her then-boyfriend Nick Lachey, in March 2001, feeling the need to concentrate on her career. Her new image was promoted through appearances on many events, where Simpson wore revealing outfits. The development of this image coincided with the production and release of her second studio effort, Irresistible. Simpson said that she wanted to portray a "sexier, more mature style" in her new album. "I recorded Sweet Kisses when I was 17 years old and I'm 21 so there is four years of growth involved," Simpson said in an interview with Coventry Newspapers in July 2001. In an interview with Cosmopolitan in June 2001, she explained, "This record is about who I am now. The music is edgier, and I'm all grown up." According to Terri Doughtery, author of People in the News: Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Simpson hoped her new image would bring more attention to the power of her voice. "It's not just me singing about being in love. I also have heartbreak songs and girls telling off guys songs. It's going to take me a while to recoup this album, because we spent a lot of money on it," Simpson said to Entertainment Weekly.

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