Mark-Anthony Abel unveils Naked Future
Mark-Anthony Abel looked curiously at a ‘blackie’ mango after breakfast last week at the Liguanea Club in St Andrew. On his second visit to Jamaica, the British singer is keen to learn the most intricate details of the country’s culture.
He hopes Jamaicans will learn some more about him this week. Abel performed on Friday at Caribbean Fashion Week at Pulse in St Andrew.
He also launched Naked Future, his second album. It comes six years after Sunshine In My Head, his first set.
The latter was re-released last year. According to Abel, it never got the deserved promotion and he is trying to do it justice the second time around.
This evening marks his second performance in Jamaica, his parents’ homeland. Patrons can expect to hear music he calls ‘acoustic soul’.
“It’s not about being a soul artiste or anything like that but the depth of soul. I feel there’s a depth to my songs,” he told the Sunday Observer.
Those songs include the uptempo I’m So In Love With You, which Abel is busy promoting in the United States and Jamaica where he is determined to make a mark.
The bean-pole Abel is also trying to distinguish himself in the United Kingdom, which is enjoying a burst of artistic creativity with singer/songwriters such as Adele, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran.
Abel admires those artistes but stressed that is not as easy for ‘ethnic minorities’ to break through in the UK pop market.
“A lot of those guys (Smith, Sheeran) have had great opportunities, so I would be judged differently. I’ve had to struggle and that’s’ something minorities can identify with,” he said.
Abel’s parents grew up in Clarendon. Both were singers. In the 1970s, his father was a member of the Black Volts, a reggae band that recorded a handful of singles and played the UK club scene.
Sunshine In My Head was his first major project.Naked Future, he notes, represents a different direction.
“The first album had live instruments. This has an electronic kind of sound, hence the name Naked Future. It’s in keeping with what’s going on in the world,” he said.
