"Samantha is still with Polydor in the UK but she has changed labels in America," Walsh tells The Sunday Times. "She had been with Interscope but we weren't happy with them. She's currently recording her new album."
It appears that Mumba has more or less scrapped an earlier collection of material, Woman, which was meant to surface in April 2003 but then disappeared from the release schedules amidst reports that Interscope weren't impressed with what they'd heard.
"I think 2004 will be a great year for Samantha," Walsh insists. "She has four acting offers on the table in America. She also wants to write an album like Janet Jackson's Control."
In an attempt to boost her R'n'B credentials, Mumba is co-writing with her new boyfriend, Jagged Edge's Brasco Casey, whose credits include Usher and Toni Braxton.
Despite talk of megabuck Stateside deals, the only film she's definitely lined up to appear in is a low-budget Irish horror flick directed by Sweety Barrett man Stephen Bradley.
Also hoping to revive his career this year is Samantha's 14-year-old brother, Omero, who's collaborating with various members of So Solid Crew on a rap album. He's among the guests on January 26 when his sister celebrates her Hello! attended 21st birthday party in Dublin's Four Seasons Hotel.