Ebony Alleyne – Never Look Back CD (Expansion)

Expansion Records are thrilled to have secured the debut album by London based soul singer/songwriter sensation Ebony Alleyne. Since teasing the music scene with a series of singles, the album “Never Look Back” has become one of the most anticipated on the soul scene.

Ebony always wanted to be a singer. Plenty of music was played at home during her childhood and her grandfather was a DJ who spun ska, reggae and soul. After early experiences in a church choir Ebony organised school events and put together music programmes raising money for sickle cell anaemia and other charities. Soon she was in the Kensington and Chelsea Borough Choir performing nationally and at the Cannes Film Festival among other prestigious international locations. She was just 15 years old.

Through the choir Ebony met a studio owner who gave her a summer job dealing with artist bookings and took the opportunity to sit in on sessions and network. The experience made her think more deeply about song writing and pursuing a career as an artist. She entered talent contests and won a competition in 1998 to record for Jet Star, but though she met some amazing reggae artists decided to wait and explore broader music styles.

During her later teens she was discovered by artist manager Chris Nathanial who was having success with Glamma Kid and developing new r&b acts through a recruitment campaign on Choice FM. Ebony so impressed Chris that he took her to Sony BMG/Columbia Records where she met producer Ian Levine and issued three promotional singles on the prestigious ‘Okeh’ label. Her style combines 60s and 70s music values in terms of lyrics, melody and sound with a classic soul voice, which some have compared to artists like Dionne Warwick and Carole King, but the situation at Columbia wasn’t right and a fiercely independent Ebony Alleyne ultimately decided to complete the album on her own terms.

To develop her song writing skills she co-wrote with established names like Brenda Russell, Vidal Davis, Commissioner Gordon (of Lauren Hill notoriety) and Shatek, spreading her time between the UK, USA and then Sweden (working with So Blue and Dhawn Dark). A single “Little Bit Of Love” was play listed at Choice, Kiss and Galaxy. She also composed a song for the movie soundtrack “Honey (Know Your Way)” and while back in the UK began building a fan base on the London singers circuit by performing at 10 Rooms, Troy Bar, Cirque, and Shadow Lounge among others.

Earlier this year she completed the album, “Never Look Back” with producers Ian Levine & Clive Scott. It’s a project she’s really proud of in that its an album of music she wanted to make ‘as opposed to music girls who look like her usually make’, as she puts it. The last song to be finished, but the first on the album is a brand new song “You Caught Me Off Guard”, the video to which is currently building momentum on You Tube and her myspace page – http://www.myspace.com/ebonyalleyne. These websites also include videos to three more songs on this album, all cut live with a full live orchestra and rhythm section. Live. Ebony has already performed at the “Soul Togetherness” weekend, “Luxury Soul Weekender”, and more recently “Acoustic Sunday” with the Kindred Spirit crew and “The Jazz Café” on 30th June 2007 directly following the release of this album. -Expansion