On December 12, 11 years ago, on a rain-beaten Thursday evening decorated with Christmas baubles and twinkling lights, multi-genre Jamaican singer Tina Simone filled out the Chaser’s Café on Belmont Road, Kingston. to launch her solo career with a concert titled “Metamorphosis”.

The metamorphosis of Tina Simone (Mowatt), which began with her transition from a group singer as a member of the famed University Singers, to a solo concert artiste, is now complete!

Today, Tina Simone, who adds songwriter and author to her repertoire, re-enters the local and international music arena as ‘Xayla Trinity’, as she unveils her debut recording single, Fly.

The single — written, sung, and arranged by her, along with co-executive producer Alexander Martin-Blanken — marks the first of several singles scheduled to be released in 2023, as the precursor to her album, METAMORPHOSIS.

The song is available to fans exclusively on Xayla Trinity’s Music website. She is offering the first 100 subscribers, as well as media houses, free streaming and downloads of the single for a limited time, as well as preview demos of upcoming singles. Fly will be made available for purchase in all major online stores in early February.

Xayla Trinity comes from a musically talented family — her late father, Lyric “Danny” Mowatt, was a jazz percussionist and her grandfather, Caleb “Taddy” Mowatt, a bassist jazz musician and former member of the Zap Pow band.

She attributes her success in singing and solo performances, initially in the classical genre, to the late Dr Noel Dexter, her mentor and musical director, and is grateful for encouragement from Peter Tosh’s ex-manager Herbie Miller who suggested she become an artiste.

The debut single Fly tells of Xayla’s journey to becoming the singer and woman she is. Like many persons who question the practicality and the realities of following their dreams, she had doubts and even left the music scene for “more certain” pursuits.

“The clarion of the heart could no longer be ignored, and the COVID-19 pandemic period proved to be the perfect catalyst I needed to unearth buried talents and discover new ones,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“I’m creating the genre ‘Empowerment Music’ to describe my offerings. I blend a mixture of genres that complement my classical/jazzy/neo soul sound as I’d like to label it,” she laughs.

“I’m also a certified life coach so music is one of three ways I want to empower others.”

— Desmond Allen