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''Finally Woken'' is the debut studio album by Welsh singer-songwriter Jem, released initially in the United States on 23 March 2004, with ATO Records. ==Background== Jemma Griffiths (born 18 May 1975), known by her stage name Jem, is a Welsh singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Penarth, Wales, she began songwriting at an early age. After graduating from the University of Sussex with a Law degree in 1996 she worked as a DJ, club and festival promoter as well as co-founder of record label Marine Parade in Brighton.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.jem-music.net/bio.php?bio=two )〕 However, she soon felt that she had neglected her own musical career for too long so in November 1999 she surprised her colleagues by leaving Brighton and returning to Wales, where she assembled a mobile recording studio and focused on developing her own individual songwriting and music production skills, completing a collection of four demos that acted as the basis of her break into the music industry.〔 In 2000, Jem moved to London where she began collaborating with other writers and producers. Two days into her first writing session with acclaimed electronic producer Guy Sigsworth (Björk, Frou Frou), the song "Nothing Fails" was born. With the lyrics eventually being picked up by Madonna for her 2003 studio album, ''American Life''.〔 In 2001, Jem travelled to Brooklyn, NYC, teaming up with hip hop producer Ge-Ology (Mos Def, Talib Kweli) and co-producer Yoad Nevo, where they succeeded in fusing her many musical influences to create a fresh and distinctive new sound.〔 In March 2002, during a trip to Los Angeles to visit friends, Jem stopped by independent radio station KCRW to leave a demo of her song "Finally Woken" in Nic Harcourt's mailbox.〔 Credited with being the first American DJ to play Coldplay, Norah Jones, and Dido, Harcourt immediately began playing it on his show ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'', whose popular listeners included big names in the music business.〔 The track quickly became one of the most listener-requested songs at the station, landing Jem in their top 5 played artists of 2003, all prior to any record label being attached to her name. One of those 'big names' listening was Bruce Flohr, a top-level A&R rep for RCA Records and newly established ATO Records (known for introducing David Gray to American audiences). Upon meeting Jem, and listening to more of her demos, Flohr recalled thinking 'How do I not let this girl out the door without signing her?'.〔 ATO Records quickly made the unanimous decision to offer her a recording contract. She subsequently signed herself to the label and on 13 October 2003 in preparation for the release of the full length album, ATO released an extended play entitled, ''It All Starts Here...'', consisting of five adapted demos that Jem had initially recorded. In anticipation of the album release, Jem also relocated to Los Angeles, where she felt there was more opportunity for her to promote her work and explore her musical potential.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.answers.com/topic/jem-singer )〕 Akin to the success of Moby's album ''Play'' (1999), Jem decided to license every song off of her album to be broadcast on American television programs, films and advertisements as a method of promotion. Television program ''The O.C.'' was the first to use Jem's music in several of their episodes, eventually inviting her to guest star on the show, performing a cover version of Paul McCartney's 1970 song "Maybe I'm Amazed" in the first season finale.〔 Since then, every song off the album has appeared in various television programs such as ''Six Feet Under'', ''Desperate Housewives'', ''Without a Trace'' and ''Grey's Anatomy''.〔 Six additional tracks were added to the original extended play and on 24 March 2004, the full length studio album ''Finally Woken'' was released in the United States. 6,000 copies were sold in the first week, and a further 5,000 in the second. Unknown artists with little airplay or commercial MTV promotion rarely garnered this much immediate attention.〔 To promote the album in the United Kingdom, Jem followed the traditional route of releasing CD singles and accompanying music videos across 2005. "They" became the UK lead single, being released 13 March 2005. Followed by "Just a Ride" in June and finally "Wish I" in September, which was consecutively being used as the theme tune to popular UK reality television programme ''Celebrity Love Island''. Jem quickly gained popularity in her native country, with her album spending 32 weeks on the UK Album Chart in March, peaking at number 6.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/jem/ )〕 To further promote the album after its release, Jem toured and performed extensively, returning to her breakthrough radio station KCRW to perform live on air for Nic Harcourt in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2008.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.kcrw.com/sitesearch?submit.x=0&submit.y=0&SearchableText=jem&dosearch=1 )〕 Furthermore, Jem performed at the 2005 Sasquatch! Music Festival on Saturday 28 May as well as performing on the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury Festival in Somerset on Sunday 5 June 2005. She performed "They" for ''Top of the Pops'' which was broadcast on Sunday 10 July 2005 and a week later she performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on Sunday 16 July 2005. On Sunday 21 August 2005 Jem performed on the JJB Puma Arena at the 10th V Festival in Chelmsford. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Finally Woken」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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