After topping the U.K. chart with her first two singles, “Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh)” and “Boys and Girls,” U.K. pop princess Pixie Lott has been ready to bring her big, soulful pop sound to the U.S. market for a while already.
But now she’ll be launching her U.S. campaign alongside an independent movie role. The 19-year-old from suburban Brentwood, Essex, has been filming “Fred: The Movie” in Los Angeles with director/producer Brian Robbins and teenage co-star Lucas Cruikshank, who created the Fred Figglehorn character, originally a YouTube hit.
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“We are very excited about Pixie’s role and we are waiting to see how that develops,” Interscope Geffen A&M chief marketing officer Chris Stephenson says.
Interscope’s U.S. album campaign will be timed for “optimizing around the millions of fans that will be exposed to her,” Stephenson says. He expects to confirm a lead single-“There are multiple options,” he says-and radio date in the coming weeks.
Lott’s glamorous image and stomping pop sound, which has drawn comparisons to Duffy and Amy Winehouse, took the U.K. charts by storm in 2009 and won her two trophies at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Together, her pair of No. 1 singles have moved 471,000 copies in the United Kingdom, according to the Official Charts Co., while debut album “Turn It Up” has shifted 157,000. The album also went top 20 in Denmark and Ireland.
Stephenson says this success paves the way for the stateside campaign. Lott has already visited the U.S. several times, meeting label executives and Interscope’s commercial and synch licensing partners, performing an industry showcase and recording her album in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Collaborators include RedOne, Greg Kurstin, Toby Gad and Kara DioGuardi.
“I love American music, and it was great to work over there on the album because it’s given it a crossover sound, not a U.K. sound,” says Lott, who names Mariah Carey as her idol.
Jason Iley, president of Lott’s U.K. label Mercury, believes her commitment and Interscope’s support will pay off. “Her work ethic will help her” in the States, he says. “She’s young and excited by it and she’ll end up traveling the world.”