Every song has a story

Melinda Doolittle had many reasons to let nearly two years pass between the end of her American Idol stint and the beginning of her recording career.

The Season 6 third-place finisher spent time pondering over the styles she already had mastered during years spent as a background singer: She could handle gospel, standards, blues, rock and R&B, and she had a hard time choosing which would be her focus.

In addition, she needed to put together a management team and find the right record label.

In performers, as with politicians, conviction enables even innocuous statements to seem profound.

So when Doolittle, sitting in a dressing room one February afternoon after appearing on a popular talk show, said, “I just love ... people'', it didn't induce a cringe. Instead, it illuminated the performance style of an artiste known for actually fulfilling the clichés the Idol judges spout: She is authentic; she always works it out; she makes songs her own.

“Talking to people from the stage is not hard for me anymore,'' said Doolittle, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. “I realise people are along for the ride. Once I put together a storyline with songs, the show is fun. It makes it a journey for all of us.''

On Idol, Doolittle developed a reputation for being too staid — an insult that stung but that she has now transformed into the more fashionable “retro''.

Her debut, produced by Joss Stone's early mentor, Mike Mangini, fits into the growing niche of young artistes retracing the steps of R&B. Doolittle, 31, cites Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Adele, Raphael Saadiq and Robin Thicke as inspirations.

“When we got ready to do this record, part of me heard people saying: ‘But that's old-fashioned,''' she said. “But if I did anything else it wouldn't be me. And I am seeing artistes across the spectrum doing this, which is exciting.''

Her recently released album, Coming Back to You, is old-fashioned in one informative way: It collects songs that others have performed, allowing Doolittle to put her own spin on a range of sounds.

This approach echoes the classic pop era that preceded rock's anointment of the singer-songwriter. It also recalls the structure of American Idol itself.

“The album is like experiencing a season with one of the contestants,'' said John Titta, the president and chief operating officer of the Music Publishing Company of America, the independent music publisher whose affiliated label, Hi Fi Recordings, is Doolittle's new home.

“It's exposing great songs from different styles through a person, interpreting them through a style of music that links them all together.''

The songs Titta presented to Doolittle for Coming Back to You included two blues classics by Robert Johnson and three standards by Sammy Cahn, and songs previously recorded by the likes of Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt.

The Franklin tune, Wonderful, comes from the soul empress's 2003 album, So Damn Happy, while Dion's Declaration of Love is a 13-year-old album cut.

Other songs on Coming Back to You have a gospel feel, reflecting Doolittle's other main source of inspiration (and income): Christian music.

Coming Back to You features many songs that could be interpreted as sacred or secular.

It is another of her classic pop moves, connecting Doolittle to the very beginning of rock'n'roll, when artistes such as Ray Charles blurred the line between love for the lord and life's pleasures.

The gospel throwdown It's Your Love is the album's prime example.

“The song says, I couldn't do it, it's your love that got me through,'' Doolittle said. “I could be talking to my mum and dad; I could be talking to the people who voted for me on Idol; I could be talking to a man. Or it could be God, because I know without God's love I would not be at this point.''

Despite her insistence that she can't connect with lyrics that go beyond first base, Doolittle projects a realistic sensuality that recalls her idol, Gladys Knight.

Her ability to balance grittiness with propriety is another quality that makes her version of “retro'' more than superficial.

The artiste might never reach the top of the charts with this music but if she can build a following that connects roots music fans to Christians seeking the wholesome but not the bland, and those genre-rejecting Idol loyalists, she will find a comfortable niche from which to grow.

“When Gladys Knight performed on Idol, I asked her, what is it that you do?'' Doolittle said. “She said, ‘A lot of people, when they go to sing a song, want to tell a story.

And I've seen you go to tell a story, it's like you're reading a book and it's so great because people get into the book.

But over the years, I got to the point where I wanted them to see the movie.' I was like, aw, man. It will take me some years to get to the movie part. I'm still in the book series. But having that to strive for, for me, that's it.''