Divine Brown Trips Through Soul Eras

Divine Brown took Canada by storm in 2005 with her self-titled debut... then she kind of disappeared. Three years later, she's back with not just a new album, The Love Chronicles, but a new label, different management and a sound that's anything but a carbon copy of her last release.

"There was an opportunity for me to just let go of a lot of stuff emotionally," says Brown. "That's really one of the things that I enjoy about being not only an artist, but about being a songwriter. You have an opportunity to be really honest with yourself emotionally, so there's definitely some realness to a lot of the songs."

Brown wrote the songs on the album between 2006 and early this year. She went to Vancouver in February and spent six weeks recording and mixing it. Lead single "Lay It On The Line" has a soulful vibe a la Lauryn Hill, but the real story is about how the video for it was almost never shot.

"I got a call early on a Sunday morning saying, 'Hey Divine, I know you're really excited about the video, but it's going to get postponed because Universal Studios is burning,'" recalls Brown.

Two days earlier, a fire destroyed the Hollywood studio where Brown was scheduled to shoot.

"I'm just grateful that we weren't there when it started and it worked out that way and it wasn't something tragic, so I thank God for that," says Brown. "But I'm really excited because it all worked out in the end."

"Bebe" and "Meet Me At The Roxy" are playful tunes that show off Brown's impeccable vocals. They also show us a little more of her dynamic personality.

"They get to see different characters… things that I joke around with my friends about, so I think that's something to expect on the record as well," explains Brown. "When people are like, 'That doesn't even sound like her,' it's me. It's just another side of me.

"At the end of the day, it's definitely a trip through different periods of soul music. People will be brought back to different places and different times in their lives when their parents were listening to some of these styles, or their grandparents were listening to some of these styles, because there's a little bit of something on the record for everyone, and I think that people should expect a little more insight about me."