Many reggae pundits consider ‘Kaya’ Bob Marley’s lovers rock album. It hears the reggae king showing his softer side on songs like ‘Satisfy my Soul’, which singer Novel-T has covered.

Her version, released January 31, is produced by her husband Howard Ricketts for P And N Publishing.

The Florida-based artiste said ‘Satisfy my Soul’ is one of her favourite Marley songs. She was determined to do it justice.

“As a classic and a tribute we wanted the melody to still be very recognisable but with a different take on the rhythm, so we made it a little more uptempo and lighthearted, adding my own style on adlibs along with multiple vocal overlays which is kinda my trademark,” Novel-T explained.

Marley threw in several easy-listening tracks with his customary roots-reggae message songs for ‘Kaya’ which was released by Island Records in 1978. ‘Is This Love’ and ‘She’s Gone’ are other memorable ballads from that set.

Novel-T said she performed ‘Satisfy my Soul’ over the years while a member of various bands, but never thought of covering it. That is, until recently.

“Believe it or not, it was a spontaneous occurrence one day while listening to another song… I casually started singing this song (Satisfy my Soul) on that rhythm and my husband and I looked at each other and said, ‘wow, that has a vibe’ and we started putting ideas together,” she explained.

Marley, who would have celebrated his 78th birthday on February 6, died in May 1981 from cancer at age 36. He started his career with The Wailers in the early 1960s singing ballads like ‘It Hurts to be Alone’, ‘Stir it Up’ and ‘Lonesome Feeling’, but after accepting the Rastafarian faith late that decade, their songs were driven by militant, black conscious themes.

Novel-T, who is originally from August Town in St Andrew, has made a name in South Florida and tri-state reggae circles with songs such as ‘So I Can Love’, ‘Keep it Moving’ and ‘Two Makes One’.