Alesta

   Alesta is the third studio album recorded by Romanian singer-songwriter Alexandra Stan. It was released both digitally and physically on March 9, 2016 through Victor Entertainment as a follow-up to Unlocked. To achieve her desired sound, Stan collaborated with several producers on the record, including Andreas Schuller, Thomas Troelsen, Sebastian Barac and Marcel Botezan. The singer also took part at a music camp organized by Marius Moga, where she further worked on material featured on the album. Musically, Alesta, a dance record, draws influence from ethnic, Eastern and Western European music. Lyrically, Stan confessed during an interview with Cosmopolitan that every recording "tells a different story".

Upon its release, Alesta debuted and peaked at number 34 on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart. Five tracks from the album were released as singles. To promote Alesta, Stan embarked on a two-week venue in Japan, while appearing in many interviews and media coverages there.

Background
Following the release of Unlocked in 2014, Stan commenced working on Alesta the subsequent year at a Romanian music camp organized by Romanian composer Marius Moga; there she collaborated with three recording studios simultaneously. The title of the record is an abbreviation of Stan's stage name, also meaning 'ready' in Turkish.

According to Stan's Italian label, Ego Records, the material from Alesta draws influence from Eastern and Western European music, which "confirms her as the undisputed queen of dance music made in Romania". Italian publication RnB Junk labelled the album as a dance record, comparing it to the singer's Unlocked, and stating that it incorporates elements of ethnic and Eastern European music "from other universes". When interviewed by Cosmopolitan, Stan confessed that her favorite track from the album was "Écoute", with every single track "telling a different story". In an interview with TV Groove, the singer felt that the "summerish" record had a "very danceable and partying vibe". According to Stan, most of the songs on Alesta are uptempo, and the album overall incorporates genres of electronic pop, dance and R&B music. The majority of the tracks are sung in English, with some songs performed in French, Romanian and Spanish, as well.

Promotion
In order to promote Alesta, Stan performed in Tokyo, Japan, in the vitrine of a Bershka shop, where she also released her clothes line, Alesta X Bershka. With this occasion, the singer hosted an autograph session and a press conference with Japanese magazines and televisions from Nagoya and Tokyo. Subsequently, Stan embarked on a two-week tour throughout Japan. Stan further performed material from the album at the 22nd Tokyo Girls Collection, Zippie Dance Party, YouTube Space Tokyo and YouTube Live during March 2016.

Covers
Editions of Alesta released by Ego Records and Warner Bros. Records featured a photograph with her laying over a motorcycle sporting a blonde wig, white underwear and a distorted pair of blue jeans.

The accompanying artwork for the Japanese and other versions of the album show Stan posing in front of a black backdrop, with lettering displayed in white or red above her head.

Singles
"We Wanna" was released on June 8, 2015 and featured the vocals of Romanian recording artist Inna and American reggaeton performer Daddy Yankee. With it being previously featured on the German edition of Stan's second studio album Unlocked, the track experienced commercial success when reaching the top 30 of the charts in Argentina, Poland and Turkey, and the top 60 in Italy, Romania and Slovakia.

"I Did It, Mama!" was released on November 27, 2015, the second release off Alesta became controversial in Romania because of scenes where Stan was portrayed miming the sexual intercourse with a male background dancer in its music video. While its lyrical message was compared to Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" and its title to Delia Matache's "Da Mama", the recording charted at number nine on native Airplay 100.

"Balans", a collaboration with Swedish-Congolese singer Mohombi, was released on March 2, 2016. Balans peaked on both Russia's Tophit and the Japanese Radio Chart at lower positions.

"Écoute", featuring with Romanian band Havana, was released on March 9, 2016. Both "Écoute" and "Balans" benefited of a music video, with the clip for the latter single being filmed in Obârșia-Brezoi, the place where Stan spent her youth. "Écoute" became a minor success in Europe.

"Boom Pow", was accompanied by a music video which was shot in her native Constanța and premiered on August 25, 2016.

"9 Lives", the last single, featured collaborative vocals from Bulgarian reggae performer Jahmmi and was released on January 13, 2017.

Standard
1. "I Did It, Mama!": 3:25 2. "We Wanna" (with Inna ft. Daddy Yankee) : 3:52 3. "Balans" (ft. Mohombi): 3:10 4. "Écoute" (ft. Havana): 3:16 5. "Get What You Give": 3:02 6. "Alone": 4:00 7. "La Fuega": 2:52 8. "Step It Up": 2:56 9. "Boom Pow" : 3:00 10. "Coco Banana": 2:42 11. "9 Lives" (ft. Jahmmi): 3:51

Japan
1. "Step It Up": 2:56 2. "Get What You Give": 3:02 3. "We Wanna" (with Inna ft. Daddy Yankee) : 3:52 4. "Alone": 4:00 5. "Écoute"" (ft. Havana): 3:16 6. "Balans" (ft. Mohombi): 3:10 7. "Coco Banana": 2:42 8. "I Did It, Mama!": 3:25 9. "9 Lives" (ft. Jahmmi): 3:51 10. "La Fuega": 2:52 11. "Boom Pow" : 3:00 12. "Motive" (ft. Dorian): 3:29 13. "Baby, It's OK!" (ft. Follow Your Instinct): 3:23