Esthero, the eclectic Toronto singer (born as Jenny Englishman), finally has a new album. Wikked Lil Grrrls is a big, 17-track album, recorded in L.A. and Toronto which took seven years to make. But the 26 yr old is not bothered by the large gab between albums and jokingly blames it on "chain-smoking, nitpicking and watching CSI." In reality, much of the delay can be attributed to the increasingly tight record company budget. "You're at the mercy of your label... for money and to provide tools for what you need to do. There was so much stop-and-start because of that. There were a lot of times where it would just be like 'I can't do anything. I want to be in the studio, I can't be there. There's no money'." If you think her professional life was turbulent, her personal life went off the Richter scale. "I had a constant need to medicate myself, whether it be with shopping and buying useless crap, whether it be with alcohol, whether it be with Tylenol, whether it be with drugs, whether it be with talking on the phone, whether it be with eating. I could not sit still inside myself."

The result is an emotionally filled album that gives us an in-depth look into the core of Esthero, a soulful, ethereal woman who has been loved, lost, and liberated through self-discovery, "It's taking a feeling in me and magnifying it by 200. It's called good storytelling" giggles the redhead. Bratty yet balanced, Esthero takes the reigns where many female artists have fallen short with her sprawls across hip-hop, jazz, pop, Latin and R&B and even incursions into big-band sounds.   "I wish there was a section in record stores that wasn't rap or hip-hop, but urban in the sense of a city of culture," the red head says, "I'd put it in jazz if I didn't think the jazz police would come after me. I guess I think of it as a pop record." And as she moves among genres, Esthero takes on different personas to match. "I get into character when I hear the music," she said. "I create this fantasy world and expound upon it to make a good story. In If Tha Mood I'm this ultra vixen character -- not me, but a part of me. And I knew Wikked Lil Grrrls had to be sung very cheekily, very Andrews Sisters. I kept thinking about Cabaret and top hats and canes...."

The album incorporates the many loves of Esthero, who served as both an Executive Producer and Co-Producer. She is joined by guest producers such as Adam 12, Camara Cambon, Spookey Ruben, James Robertson, Track and Field, Sean Lennon and Keith Crouch] with appearances by Shakari Nite, Cee-Lo Green, Jemeni, Jeleestone and Andre3000 of Outkast.  

"I was born a singer, I'll die one," she insists. "I don't need the validation of others to know who I am and what I do.", but she continues to admit, "I would love to win a Grammy or be celebrated like that.

But as you get older you start to look beyond that and go, 'Okay, well, then what? What are you going to do with that?' Because that's a great amount of exposure and power that you're now wielding.

So what would you do in that moment and what would you do after that? Your biggest goal can't be to stand on a stage in front of people for one night and be like [adopting a teary, award-show voice] 'Thank you so much! I'd like to thank the Academy...' I mean, who cares? What do you do the next day? Do you go buy a Mercedes or do you do something of value?"    

..... I like her .....                                     GMc