LOS ANGELES — “I Am” is Leona Lewis’ first post-Simon Cowell offering, but the aftermath of their professional split resonates throughout her fifth studio album.
“It was very hard and very nerve-racking because I didn’t know what I’d be walking into once I left Simon. I had no idea,” Lewis said. “I needed to kind of create my own path, and I went out and created the album based on … the strength that it took to walk away from different situations.”
Cowell signed the British-born singer to his label, Syco Music, after she won “The X-Factor” in 2006. In 2014, after collaborating on four albums over eight years, Lewis wrote an open letter to fans detailing her decision to leave Syco.
“I cannot make music that does not speak to my soul, and as scary as it seemed, I could no longer compromise myself, and so I decided to leave,” Lewis, 30, said in a handwritten note posted on her Twitter account.