WHEN singer D Medz began sessions for his Empower EP last year, he had almost a decade of recording under his belt.

Working with saxophonist/producer Dean Fraser, it did not take him long to discover he still had a lot to learn about making music.

“It was the first time I ever recorded live, so it was a new process for me,” he said. “With computers, yuh jus’ boop boop an’ yuh done, but recording live yuh have to be patient.”

Fraser, whose productions credits include Tarrus Riley’s 2007 breakthrough album, Parables, produced four of the six songs on Empower. One of them, Champion, is the mini-set’s lead single.

Clarendon-born D Medz (Dwayne Adams) believes the songs on Empower, Like Mama Love, Street Smart and Good God, reveal his maturity as a writer and artiste.

“The energy is different. It’s a case where I’m trying to connect with people on a spiritual level…reach their soul,” he said.

After graduating from the HEART Academy with training for the hospitality industry, D Medz worked in hotels in Manchester but found time to record for independent producers there and in Kingston.

Two of those early productions, She Only Love Me Cause A Christmas and May Pen Mi Come From, did little. But last year’s Life Sweet and Road Tonight fared better in terms of airplay and chart action.

He intends to maintain that momentum with Champion and Empower.

“There are some things as an artiste yuh feel yuh could change when listening to the early stuff, but right now I feel I’m in a good place.”

— Howard Campbell