Dancehall singer-cum-gospel artiste, Chevelle Franklyn is adding the final touches to her latest album, Southwind Volume 1 .

The 13-track set, her fourth, is co-produced by Franklyn, alongside several South African producers. A release date is slated for sometime this year.

“This album is different because of the production, the vocals, the style, writing style…everything. It’s just straight worship. It will also show off my true vocal ability and I’m more excited about this one, than the previous ones. The hand of God was all over this project,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Franklyn is one of the recipients of this year’s Iconic Award Gospel Music Artiste courtesy of Jamaica Reggae Music Industry Association (JaRIA). David Keane and the Sunshine Singers are also named in that category. Keane, however, died after suffering a stroke while preaching at a New Year’s Eve service on December 7, 2014.

The awards ceremony will take place on February 25 at Little Theatre in Kingston.

The singer has not released any new music since her last album in 2017 (Set Time).

“Many people thought I stopped doing music because they weren’t hearing from me, but I’ve been working all this time. I have been working very hard overseas,” she said.

Franklyn recorded her first single, Here I Am produced by Rohan Harrison, and it was released in her early teens. She recorded Nice and Naughty followed by another single, No Pushover, in 1992 — both produced by Mikey Bennett.

The singer shot to international prominence when she collaborated with Shabba Ranks on Mr Lover Man in 1991. In 1997 she got further international exposure when she recorded Dancehall Queen with Beenie Man for Island Records, the soundtrack of which was used for the equally successful movie of the same name.

She, however, left it all behind when she became a Christian in 1998.

Franklyn said she has always wanted to work on an album in South Africa.

“About 16 years ago when I visited South Africa and I saw the level of musicianship there, I said: ‘God, one day I want to come back here and work on my own album’. Everything was just on point; the vocalists, the musicians, and producers, and I needed that level of musicianship in my life,” she said.

The gospel artiste has also been on shows in Ghana, Lagos (at The Experience a mega-gospel concert), Australia, Asia, Canada, several Caribbean islands and Europe.

Her previous albums included His Way (2007) and Joy (2011).