Outta Here

Outta Here is the debut studio album by Dutch pop artist and songwriter Esmée Denters. It was released on Tennman Records in May and June 2009 in Europe, and was released in the UK on 11 January 2010. Production was handled mostly and executively by Justin Timberlake with Denters herself co-writing the album.

The album was preceded by the release of the title track "Outta Here" as the first single. The song was released in April 2009, reaching top ten in the Netherlands and the UK, number 12 in New Zealand, and number 26 in Belgium. After the album's release, "Admit It" was released as the second single on 4 September 2009 and peaked at 28 in the Netherlands.

In August 2006, Denters made a YouTube channel and began posting a series of low-tech videos that showed the artist covering songs from Beyoncé, Natalie Imbruglia and others.^[1] She rapidly gained a following.^[1] In early 2007, Denters started her professional career after attracting the attention of Dutch media scouts and American pop singer Justin Timberlake.^[2] Timberlake went on to sign her as the first artist to his label Tennman Records, a joint venture with Interscope Records.^[1] The deal placed her as the opening act for a handful of Timberlake's European shows.^[1]

Production on Outta Here kicked off in the summer of 2007 when Timberlake and Denters began writing and producing songs.^[3] In April 2009, Denters confirmed on Dutch radio station Radio 538 that the album would be released on 22 May 2009 and contain a mix of pop and R&B with both ballads, and uptempo tracks. Speaking in October 2009, Esmée explained to noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul her reasons for naming her debut album after her debut single: "I called it Outta Here because to me that one song in itself actually encapsulates what the album in its entirety is about. You know, it's a pop song, it has a bit of an R&B feel, it has some rock in it, a little bit of dance... So, because I thought that mixture of styles was just so representative of the record as a whole, I decided to name the album after it."^[4]

"Outta Here," produced by Polow Da Don and Justin Timberlake, was issued as the album's first single. On 13 May, a music video for the song was released. The song itself was made available for download on 14 May 2009. "Admit It," co-produced by Toby Gad, was released as the second single from Outta Here. An accompanying music video premiered on 3 September on Dutch Music Channel TMF.^[5] "Love Dealer," the album's third and final single, was released on 4 May 2010.^[6]

AllMusic editor Jon O'Brien found that "Timberlake's constant presence could have overshadowed his protégé's first offering, but Denters proves she's just as capable without the aid of her superstar mentor [...] At its best, Outta Here is as a well-produced, female-fronted companion to Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds which suggests that in the future, the next YouTube sensation could well be discovered singing one of Denters' very own songs.^[7] BBC Music's Mike Diver remarked that "Denters is no album artist, yet, but a couple of these tracks could be great singles [...] Outta Here's stringent adherence to contemporary pop/R&B conventions is its undoing. A couple of tracks, "Victim" particularly, could leave a significant mark on the singles chart, but as an album artist Denters has a long way to go before she's ranked alongside the true pop idols she evidently envies."^[9] Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian concluded: "The highly polished, predominantly uptempo songs are listenable enough, but the lack of a signature style will ultimately work against Denters."^[8]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} denotes vocal producer(s)