Alexandra Burke "scrapped" a lot of her new album.
Alexandra Burke
The 'Hallelujah' singer - who recently got engaged to Josh Ginnelly after three years of dating - has been working on 'The Truth is' for five years, but ditched some of the early tracks after experiencing a number of changes in her life, including the death of her mother, Melissa Bell, last August, that made her want to pour her own experiences into the record.
She said: "I've always been the kind of person to sugarcoat how I feel.
"When people asked me how I was, I used to reply that I was great and everything was fine.
"But now I'm learning to be honest and that if something is wrong, I talk about it.
"I started writing this album five years ago, but so much has changed in my life since then.
"So I scrapped some of the original songs and wrote new ones, wearing my heart on my sleeve about where I'm at now.
"I've poured my heart and soul into my new music and it reflects the incredible journey I've been through - the highs and lows, love and loss.
"It's a mixture of everything I've gone through in the past couple of years."
And the title track for the record is dedicated to Melissa.
Alexandra said: "I wrote it for her...
"I owe everything I have in my life to her.
"This passion inside me, I absolutely inherited it from her.
"Losing her is still quite raw for me so I'm taking it one hour at a time."
And the 29-year-old singer hopes people going through similar experiences will take comfort from her album.
She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "Music will always be my first love.
"It's my way of dealing with anything in life.
"I hope that when people listen to my new album, they will be able to relate to it and see there is light at the end of the tunnel.
"I'm still on my journey to find my light. But the way there for me is through my voice, through singing."
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