“It was a tough process for me because I identified as someone doing it all by myself, me against the world. I drew a lot of strength from that,” Ms. Edmonson said. “I can’t underestimate how much that propelled me. Suddenly, there was all this support and a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Learning how and when to relinquish control and when to let people do what they need to do to help me was a confusing process. I was so wrapped up in being strong and doing this alone that I had to kind of grieve that in order to move on.”

Ms. Edmonson believes what’s made it easier to put her trust in the team she has assembled is that they are not put-off by the fact that the music she makes is hard to describe and thus more challenging to market. Is she a jazz singer? The next Norah Jones? Perhaps she’s a more modern Diana Krall? How radically different is she from Adele or Lily Allen?

“Some of my development in making this album has been in accepting who I am and finally believing there’s an audience for me — that if they get me, they get me and that’s who I’m playing this music for,” Ms. Edmonson said.

Even so, Ms. Edmonson believes she has given Sony something more commercially viable than her last album, “Way Down Low,” which was filled predominately with more intense, down-tempo material. “The Big Picture” is notably more energetic and jubilant. So far, Ms. Edmonson’s biggest champion has been NPR, which traditionally leads to slow-building, word-of-mouth sales. Even so, Ms. Edmonson says another big sea change in her outlook is that she’s less inclined to pore over the numbers or let herself believe any one part of marketing, touring or radio play surrounding this record is make or break.

“For so long, I needed to gauge the reaction of everything I did. I kept thinking I have to get to this place, or meet this goal. But I can now be open to however people receive it. I can just enjoy it, instead of wallowing in expectations.”