Lenny Kravitz's 10th studio album, Strut, is out tomorrow (Sept. 23), and the musician-turned-actor-turned-musician-again spoke with Billboard about the new release.
Kravitz admitted that the album, which will be the first on his own label Roxie Records, just sort of happened –– he was more focused on his role of Cinna in The Hunger Games movies. "I had nothing to do with it. It came together by itself," he said. "I really had no idea I was about to make a record. I was on the set making Catching Fire. Making an album was the last thing on my mind, and all of a sudden I started hearing this music at night, and it wouldn't go away. So, I have two choices at that point: Either I ignore it and lose it, or I pay attention. I decided to pay attention, and this is what came out, really fast –– like in two weeks, all of it."
The guitarist worked with producer Bob Clearmountain to help polish the record and give it, what Kravitz called, a healthy dose of "grit'n'glamour." He also discussed why the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles song "Ooo Baby Baby" was included on the new record.
"I was actually in the trailer one morning getting my Cinna makeup, and "Ooo Baby Baby" came on the radio," he said. "I hadn't heard it in a long time, and I was just thinking, 'Oh, my God' – the vocal, the strings, the drums; it was just so beautiful. I was touched. I thought that would be the perfect song to end [the album]. I sort of visualized it as the nightclub closing; they flip the lights on and the guy starts sweeping and the band stays on for one more song."
Kravitz will hit the road for a world tour starting Oct. 22 in Moscow.
