Although they have been around for almost three years, members of the band BLACKasCOLE have their sights set on changing the face of contemporary Jamaican music.

To date, the nine-piece outfit has released two songs — Musical Romance (an original) and a cover of Adele’s Hometown Glory.

Both are ballads that showcase lead singer Cecile Black’s captivating vocals.

“We have a very unique sound and like other genres of music, it will take a time to catch on,” said Black in an interview with Splash.

She admits it has not been easy getting BLACKasCOLE’s smooth reggae sound on the airwaves.

“From inception we have been managing ourselves, so any recording opportunities have been through our hard work and dedication. Nothing in life comes easy so we would say it has been quite a difficult task,” Black explained.

“In order to record we book paid shows to afford studio time and being a new band on the scene the paid gigs are few,” she added. “On the other hand, when things seem almost impossible the Most High gives us a break, and at one point a good friend of the band Mr Lloyd Laing got us some studio time to mix a few songs. So, overall we consider ourselves blessed and hope things get easier with time.”

Black’s bandmates are Mark Anthony Reid on drums; Richard Nelson (guitar); Jon-Joseph Nepaul (keyboards); Craig Cole (bass); Ruel Phillips (percussion); Chad Anthony Smart (background vocals); Toni Blair (background vocals) and engineer Gurieer Brown.

“Majority of the members met each other at UWI (University of the West Indies) and we played together in a group called UWI Pop Society. Being lovers of music we decided to step off the campus to create our own brand,” Black said.

That brand is a reggae-soul sound similar to the neo-soul feel that has made artistes like Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild and The Roots popular in the United States.

She states the group has taken a stance not to use sensationalism to get attention.

“We are introducing to Jamaica probably the first female-led reggae band in Jamaica. We have made a conscious decision not to follow the trend and produce music that highlights negativity,” she said. “We are built on love, hence that’s what we strive to sing about.”

BLACKasCOLE is working on its debut album and hope to step up their live dates. Recent performances include Earth Hour, promoted by Jamaicansmusic.com, and an appearance at Redbones Blues Café.