Blake Lewis

If you think Blake Lewis has been working on his debut album since finishing runner-up on "American Idol" last spring you are sorely mistaken. It's been much longer in the making. "I had books of lyrics and concepts, and demos from four years ago that say ADD on them," Lewis says, referring to the acronym for the 19 Recordings/Arista Records release, Audio Day Dream. "And I worked with people I was going to work with anyway, like [electronic music mastermind] BT, who is one of my main inspirations in music. I have my band on the album. It's exactly how I wanted it to come out." A spectacular hodgepodge of styles as varied as synth-pop, alterna-funk and old school hip-hop, Audio Day Dream could only be the brainchild of a true visionary ... or at least a funk soul brotha with a studio addiction.
"I wanted to make a record where every song sounds like it could be on the radio, but my radio," explains Lewis, a 26-year-old Redmond, Washington native. "Each track is different and emotional. I've got drum-n-bass, James Brown-style break-beat. I've got a world beat track, a jazzy track, a Broadway musical track. The songs have huge choruses but also vocoders and talk boxes and robotic-sounding stuff mixed in with funky Jamiroquai-like music." Certainly, there's an ADD quality to the album, but that's only half of the story behind the title. "I was an only child and I've been entertaining for as long as I can remember, annoying people, making noises, doing voices all the time," Lewis recalls. "Everyone has thought I had ADD my whole life, but I don't. I'm always focused." While the acronym has been in place for years, Lewis finally spelled it out as he put the finishing touches on the album. (Audio Defying Diversity and Analog Digital Display were among the other contenders.) And how fitting to have the word "dream" on a project that was certainly one coming true.