Emeli Sande Background

Our Version of Events- first album

• The album was released on 13 February 2012 by Virgin Records, following Sandé's winning of the Critic's Choice Award at the BRIT Awards 2012. 
• Though Our Version of Events is her first release, Sandé has been active in the industry since 2009, most notable appearing on singles by Chipmunk ("Diamond Rings") and Wiley ("Never Be Your Woman"). 
• The album features R&B, soul and pop music.
• Sandé first appeared in public when she sent a video into Trevor Nelson's BBC urban music competition, where she played piano while singing one of her favourite songs, "Nasty Little Man". 
• It was later announced that she had won the competition and Sandé was offered a record deal. 
• However, once she met the management to finalise the contract for the recording contract, the management decided against giving Sandé a deal.
• Her parents later sent BBC Radio 1Xtra a CD of her songs and Ras Kwameplayed the songs on his "Homegrown Sessions", and four artists that year were asked to do a show in Soho in the United States. 
• She later met Shahid Khan, who has previously worked with Ms Dynamite and Bashy. 
• Khan said "When we started together it took the music to something completely original. It took me out of my jazz piano niche, and it took him out of his urban scene. Then we started writing for pop people."

"Heaven"

• Sandé said that the first track on the album, "Heaven" was a huge "epic pop song" which had sweeping strings.
• It came about when she was having a late night conversation with Naughty Boy, the song's producer with whom she worked throughout the whole album. 
• She said that Naughty Boy had a beat running in the background, and then she got the first line of the song and the song began to write itself from there. 
• She said; "I love how songs like that develop: before we knew it, we were putting strings on with a synth, Naughty Boy suggested the Funky Drummer loop and it came together really organically."^[7] The song was heavily compared to Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy", however Sandé said that she takes it as a compliment as she is a big fan of Massive Attack. 
• However, she said lyrically or melodically the songs are not similar, but the Funky Drummer loop has been used so much and it has strings on people and that is why the connection is made between the two songs. She said she was glad if people get the same vibe from the song, as she loves the song and said the song was "really exciting".
• Sandé said she also "designed" the song for a night club moment, where everyone can put their hands in the air. The song's genre featured a dubstep pop. 
• Sandé said that the song was based on the fact that she believes in God and heaven, although she does not follow a religion. 
• She said that what inspired her the most to write the track was her idea of heaven, which was being surrounded by music and somewhere which is very calm, and she wrote about that in "Heaven".