THANKS to soulful British artistes like Adele, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran, the singer/songwriter is once again vogue.

Mark-Anthony Abel, born in the United Kingdom to Jamaican parents, is part of a ‘serious artiste’ movement sweeping that country. He hopes to make a statement with his album Sunshine’s In My Head.

Abel is currently in New York promoting the set, with emphasis on three songs: In Vain, Hit Ten Times and Goddess Of The Purple Sea.

Describing his music as “acoustic soul”, Abel told Splash that its stripped-down sound is typical of the creativity among contemporary British musicians.

“The British music scene has changed substantially, because now you have more urban-sounding music out there. There is far more crossover with elements of reggae in so much of mainstream music,” he said. “You can also no longer tell whether an artiste is black or white, so strong are black influences within mainstream music nowadays.”

Abel adds that such a setting suits performers like himself.

“I think genres have broken down into simply great nuggets of musical melodies. You just have to look at Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran to see where I’m coming from. I think it’s a perfect time to have an artiste like me who was trying to buck those trends years before. It’s a great time for music and expression,” he said.

This is actually Sunshine’s In My Head’s second coming. It first came out in 2010, but Abel and his management re-released it recently with ‘adjustments’.

Abel wrote all the songs, with production shared between Ville and Matt Lepannan and Michelle Chianvari.

Born in London, Abel’s parents are from Clarendon. Both were singers; his father was a member of the Black Volts, a reggae band that recorded a clutch of singles and played the UK club scene during the 1970s.

While he grew up on Jamaican music, Abel is depending on acoustic soul to make him a household name.

“It’s acoustic soul because of the guitar being used as the base of each track; and the soul because, whether the voice is soulful or not, I look to really reach out to the inner person within my songs. I want the depth, and that’s where the soul is,” he said.