The truth is that Leona’s best kept secret is exactly what it says on the album cover. “Best kept Secret” is the name of the new album and, the best thing about it, that it’s no longer being kept secret.

If you’ve heard the track that couldn’t be kept secret, being playing on the radio recently you’ll know the sound to expect. The great voice of Leona with an R&B twist.

It’s an open secret that Best Kept Secret has been available as an import from Japan for some time. It’s not being sold at the best price, which is what kept me from ordering it. I wouldn’t have been best pleased if I had ordered it, as the UK release of Best Kept Secret has two more tracks on it than its Japanese cousin (twelve rather than ten).

Best Kept Secret – The TV ad

A friend of mine sent me a sneak preview of the TV ad for Best Kept Secret.
It began with a completely pixelated screen, with an excerpt from a slow –tempo Leona track (Presumably one off the album). The pixels kept blinking, slowly revealing the secret identity of a woman as a voice-over said: “It is the Best kept secret”. A caption, reading “BEST KEPT SECRET” in elegant capital letters appears, then the pixels reveal the secret they’ve kept – a still image of Leona Lewis, looking as lovely as ever. The music kept playing as the best kept secret was revealed. “Leona Lewis’s new album”, said the voice in the best traditions of movie trailer voices. The album cover was revealed, and then the voice said something I wasn’t expecting: “Is only available at secret leona dot com”.

I kept playing it to see if I’d missed something, but with the best will in the world I couldn’t see any other logos. Is Best Kept Secret really only going to be available from a website? Is this really the best way to market it? I kept being reminded of those ‘best of the charts’ albums that were around in the seventies. Could Best Kept Secret actually be some kind of tribute album?

Had some producer found a secret Leona sound-a-like and kept her hidden away while they took their best shot at copying Leona? I even wondered if they selling the album online as the best way to make sure they kept their little secret a secret? Only when you ordered the album would your best hopes be dashed when you read the small print that had been kept to the smallest point size possible. The secret would be out and you'd think that your money would have been best kept in your pocket. But I was wrong…

Best Kept Secret – The website

I checked out SecretLeona.com and the best I can tell is that the album is the genuine article. The TV ad plays on the site, but there are no other previews of what’s actually on Best Kept Secret. According to the blurb, it is a collection of twelve completely original R&B tracks. So it seems Leona is a secret lover of dance music. I had kept wondering about that – how someone so young had kept putting out the sort of torch songs normally associated with older artists. I suppose these songs did show off her voice to its best advantage – but I always had a secret suspicion that she probably liked to get ‘down and dirty’ in secret.

Eager to hear more of what’s on Best Kept Secret, I kept trawling the internet to find more tracks from the album. The best I could do was find thirty second samples of the tracks, which is hardly enough time to judge any of them (unless you know the secret of musical extrapolation – which is a best kept secret in itself). I kept playing the best clips and they sounded pretty good.

The verdict on Best Kept Secret

I’ve kept you in suspense too long, so it’s probably best that I reveal my secret thoughts on Best Kept Secret. What I can really tell you is the album is a collection of R&B dance tracks sung by Leona Lewis. And it’s awesome. There, the best kept secret is out.