Better Off As Blair? Leighton Meester Attempts Pop Stardom

Leighton Meester is generally quite amazing. Everybody knows she is the real star of Gossip Girl (so sick of hearing about Blake "American Sienna" Lively) and she has the laidback charm many a starlet lack these days (her co-star Taylor "Little J" Momsen springs to mind with her faux Courtney Love carry on.). She has brought one of the most enjoyable bee-otches on TV to life, has a pleasingly barmy sense of style and generally seems not to give a shit. These are all good things.


Leighton has also spent the last while trying her hand at being a popstar. I can't decide where I stand on this. In one sense why shouldn't she try her hand at new things? But then on the other it seems like a campaign that might never get off the ground. There was some initial leaks last year including a rather lovely cover of Bette Davis Eyes which lead to Miss Meester being signed to Universal. Soon after that she appeared on Cobra Starship's Good Girls Go Bad which was as far as I'm concerned a fantastic pop tune. The fact that it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 also gave her a proper hit. Kind of. (There was also another Leighton leak Body Control which I find quite enjoyable, see it here)

Leighton's own debut single with Robin Thicke debuted last October (I've already discussed it being rather lovely and the video here). It didn't make any impact, despite sounding pretty radio friendly. There was also a rather questionable cover of Darlene Love's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) which I'm going to gloss over. There were some cringe inducing live performaces too (of both the single and a new track which doesn't sound like much cop) including some horrifically cheesy back up dancers. At one point you expect them to high five Leighton. Awful:

There is talk of a new single with Lil' Wayne (who hasn't he a done a song with at this point?) but a new track leaked in the last week said to be the title track for her forthcoming album. "Your Love's A Drug" is straightforward, slightly grating synth pop but also incredibly catchy. 

The songs so far have been good but the time it is taking for anything to come together suggest a classic case of TV actress not being able to properly devote time to her music. Leighton may or may not become a great popstar but in the meantime we can rely on some enjoyable tunes to keep up busy. Your Love's A Drug is ridiculously catchy and the kind of straightforward radio ready stuff that might give her a chance at the top of the pop heap. With a number of big producers (Red One, Polow Da Don, Harvey Mason Jr.) on board it sounds like some big tunes are in the offing. If not at least we'll always have Blair Waldorf.