Biography
Welcome to the world of newcomer, Nina Jayne - one that doesn't include dance routines or conspicuous bling - instead a stylish young singer songwriter who calls her own shots. First up, she writes her own songs. And she may be only 22, but they are hardly the 'I love, you love, baby love-type songs you might imagine. Like prodigies Kate Bush and Alicia Keys - both signed to similar deals as Nina Jayne - her lyrics are working an altogether deeper seam: they take in everything from disastrous relationships to homelessness and domestic violence, drawing on everything from her visits to women's refuges to her observations of poverty in London. The importance of lyrical content for Nina comes from a childhood where she was heavily exposed to the existential journeys of Joni Mitchell by parents whose tastes ranged from Elvis ('I've got Elvis in my bones!) through Aretha to country. 'My mum was into smooth soul like Luther Vandross, my dad was heavily into Joni Mitchell and my sisters went for the vocals of singers like Mary J. Blige, that whole soft hip-hop thing that seemed so cool to us up in their rooms. And that's really where I'm coming from. The lyrics of someone like Joni, where it's not about rhyming, it's about telling stories, nailing emotions and moods, and the sheer vocal brilliance of the real singers. I even had such a thing for Whitney Houston, she says. 'She just had that voice and that sophistication back in the day. But from Joni I think I've got a real appreciation of lyrics. With the kind of intensely emotional input that comes from Nina's life experience and musical heritage, it's no surprise that her songs in their finished versions sound like pure quality. With production from the likes of Mike Hedges (U2), Steve Lipson (Annie Lennox), Soul Shock and Karlin (Jamelia), Frasier T. Smith, (Craig David), and Cameron McVey of Neneh Cherry- and Sugababes-fame.
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