Ashlee Simpson is in a good place. She has two multi-platinum records that debuted back to back at the top of the charts, and collectively sold more than four million copies in the U.S. alone. She has two sold-out tours under her belt, a tight-knit family, a loyal fan base, and a burgeoning second career as an actress. So when it came time to create her third album, she wanted the music to represent where she was at in life. "Life is really good right now. I'm young. I love my life and I enjoy my time off too. I wanted to celebrate all that on my next record," says Ashlee, who has been tinkering with BITTERSWEET WORLD on and off since summer 2007. "I wanted to make music people could shake their booties to and use beats for the first time. I wanted to sing fun songs. Basically, I wanted to make a party record." And when an artist wants to get the party started, who better to call than Timbaland? The producing powerhouse, who helped shape recent smash hits by Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado, toiled on half of the tracks (including "Murder," "Out of My Head (Ay Ya Ya)," "Ragdoll," and "Rule Breaker") while the rest were guided by the Neptunes' Chad Hugo and critically acclaimed Ethiopian synth-hop savant Kenna. "The room was so blessed with talent. I was very lucky to work with people who are at the top of their game. I was nervous the first time I walked into their studios, but they quickly became like protective big brothers to me and encouraged me to just go with the flow and do whatever my heart felt was right in the booth. They'd come up with beats and I'd come up with a melody. Everyone worked together and if you had an idea, you would just spit it out and see if it stuck. I knew they wouldn't let me sound stupid and that made me go for it even more. They create an easygoing, fun vibe everywhere they go." She quickly learned that hip-hop heroes move at a different pace than pop stars. "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. I got a little loopy and punchy late at night, which affected some of the songs. It was so cool for me to be able to step outside of the way I had always done it before and try new things." The album's lead single, "Little Miss Obsessive," returns the artist to her pop/rock roots and features guest vocals from the Plain White T's Tom Higgenson. With another track on the album, "Murder," don't let the somber title fool you. The 23-year-old has not gone gangsta.
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Bittersweet World - Ashlee Simpson
