On January 4 2017, Lea Michele took to her Instagram to announce she was coming out with her second album. Starting on January 9 until January 26, Michele posted photos on her Instagram of places that are special to her. Some of these included Bronx, where she was born, Imperial Theatre, where she did her first Broadway performance, and Paramount Studios, where they shot Glee. These photos were clues to what the title of the album was, since the title was not announced at the time.
Michele’s album, called Places, is a call back to her days on Broadway. The album will consist of 11 songs, though the Target special edition has 13 songs and is signed by Lea Michele. At least two songs dealing with her late boyfriend, Cory Monteith, who passed away in 2013. These songs are “Getaway Car” and “Hey You.” “Hey You” is the second part to “If You Say So,” a song about Cory on Michele’s first album. A lot of the songs Michele wrote, but Ellie Goulding wrote “Heavenly” for the album.
While doing a mini tour in January, Michele preformed some of the new songs from the album. Michele called this mini tour, “An intimate evening with Lea Michele,” and she sang songs from “Glee,” her first album and her newest album. She did three shows, two in Los Angeles and one in New York. Videos from the nights showed Michele talking about the songs from her first and second albums. While on Facebook Live, Michele described the album as “strong, emotional, and inspiring.”
The album was released on April 28, 2017, and Michele has begun a short tour to promote her album. Right now, there are only six tour stops, but Michele says that they might add more stops once the album comes out. From May 1 to May 10, Michele stopped in Philadelphia, Boston, Ledyard, Toronto, Seattle, and San Francisco. Now, Michele is touring in London and is promoting the album.
The album is different from her last album, as this one has more of a show tune sound to the songs. Michele took inspiration from Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion, so the songs that Michele picked for this album are more of a mix between show tunes and pop. It is a great sophomore album for Michele, and I can’t wait to see what else she has in store.