It appears that X-Factor winner Shayne Ward is releasing Obsession in America. Ward announced the news on Friday via Facebook:
"Calling America! Great news for all Shayne's US fans! The brilliant third album Obsession is set for a digital release on February 8th in the US! "Close To Close" will be the lead track in the States so don't forget to call your local radio station and request it! ;) Also visit VEVO on Tuesday to see the hot video for... ‘Gotta Be Somebody’ and be sure to follow Shayne on Twitter for more news."This is all very interesting indeed. While Obsession hasn't been a complete failure in Ward's native UK, it has been the least successful of his three albums. Starting out strong with his debut self titled album premiering at #1 back in 2006, Ward's sophomore album, 2007's Breathless peaked at #2 on the Official UK Album Chart. When Obsession was released back in November the album managed to stall out at the #15 spot on the UK Album Chart. What's more, the first single off of Obsession, a cover of Nickelback's "Gotta Be Somebody" is Ward's second lowest charting single to date, peaking at #12 - just two spots higher than his third and final single off his debut album.
Even more confusing still is the fact that Shayne Ward has yet to release a second single off of Obsession. Why focus any energy on cracking the U.S. market when you still have promo to do in your home country? It just doesn't seem like a smart decision. If you're going to crack America, you need to put EVERYTHING into it and even that's not a guarantee that you're going to succeed. I can say that NOT releasing "Gotta Be Somebody" as the first single in America was probably a wise move. Nickelback is a pretty polarizing band here in the states - either you love them or you hate them with a passion.
The first U.S. single, "Close To Close" is a mid-tempo pop/R&B track co-written by Max Martin, Arnthor Birgisson and Savan Kotecha with Birgisson filling in on producer duties as well. While I'd like to see Shayne come to this side of the pond to help promote the album, seeing that it's strictly a digital release I don't see it happening. Heck - I'm shocked that there was even an announcement at all. Watch the video for "Gotta Be Somebody" BELOW and get yourself a copy of Obsession when it's released tomorrow, February 8th. Thanks goes to Pop Music Notes for the heads up on this.
Check out Shayne Ward on the web: