Demi Lovato ‘Unbroken’: Fall Preview

Becky Bain | September 7, 2011 11:59 am

Demi Lovato’s year started off, shall we say, less than stellar, as she (quite publicly) suffered a nervous breakdown, causing her to leave both her world tour with the Jonas Brothers and her Disney show Sonny With A Chance to enter a treatment facility. But Demi’s second half of 2011 looks like it’s going nowhere but up, as the 19-year-old pop star plans to release her third, highly anticipated studio album Unbroken, featuring a huge lead single and a crop of hot guest appearances and producers. Jump below to find out everything you need to know about Demi’s latest LP in our Fall Music Preview.

ALBUM: Unbroken (Hollywood Records)

RELEASE DATE: September 20

SINGLES RELEASED SO FAR: The emotional ballad “Skyscraper”, which peaked at #10 on the Hot 100 — her highest charting single since 2008’s Camp Rock song “This Is Me”.

ALBUM PRODUCERS: Timbaland produced and appears on “All Night Long”, which also happens to feature his supertight amigo Missy Elliott. Back in January, Timbo posted a video of himself listening to Demi’s music, saying he was “very impressed… I’m not an easy person to please.”

Other producers include Toby Gad (Beyonce, Selena Gomez), Emanuel Kiriakou (Hot Chelle Rae, Jason Derulo) and Ryan Tedder (Kelly Clarkson, Adele, OneRepublic).

WHAT TO EXPECT: In addition to Missy and Timbaland, look out for guest appearances by Iyaz, Jason Derulo and Dev (whose debut LP drops the very same day as Demi’s). Thematically, however, prepare for a lot of introspection, as Demi is still working out her problems and fighting her inner demons, which include self-harming, an eating disorder and struggling with bipolar disorder. “With my new album, I’m hoping to provide inspiration for girls everywhere who are going through the same issues I’ve faced,” she recently told Seventeen magazine. “I think this will come through in a lot of the material.”

Still, it’s not a 15-track therapy session — there’s a few tunes that are more about having fun than looking deep within yourself. Ryan Tedder told E! News that his collaboration with Lovato on “Who’s That Boy” carries a totally different vibe than that of “Skyscraper”. “I think everybody wanted to hear her talk about, and this is basically flipping it 180, saying, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m still also just young and want to have fun.’ There’s even like a little rap feature on it.”

TOUR PLANS: Demi is starting things out slow, performing at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on September 17, and LA’s Club Nokia on September 23.

OUR THOUGHTS: The girl has one killer voice, and now she finally has the A-list material to put it to good use. It’s difficult for many young female pop stars to transition successfully from squeaky-clean Disney kid to respected adult recording artist. But so far, Demi’s doing a spectacular job, and she’s doing it without having to show some skin or sing about hooking up in a club. Both in her professional career and her personal life, we’re rooting for her all the way.

Need to know what else you’ll be rocking to the next few months? Check out the other albums in our Fall Music Preview — Lady Antebellum’s Own The Night, Katy B’s On A Mission, Dev’s The Night The Sun Came Up and The Bangles’ Sweetheart Of The Sun.