Jamie Woon is a British singer, songwriter and producer signed to Polydor who gained widespread acclaim in 2010 for his single Night Air, which has been played over and over on BBC Radio One by several DJs who are big fans of the artist. On 4 January 2011, the BBC announced that Woon had been placed fourth in the BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll.

Woon’s sound and style is described as soul inflected vocals backed by blues n’ bass samplers and programming, or a single guitar track. He describes his music as “R&B, it’s groove-based vocal-led music”. The self-taught producer made his name by playing live. He’s got hundreds of gigs under his belt, from endless spots in front of the microphone with just his guitar an effects box and that amazing voice, to supporting Amy Winehouse.

He has now made the music that will let him switch between intimate gigs to stages with a bigger reach. The new sound, fuses his future pop songs with ’80s reverb, ultra-tight beats and acres of bass. “I love atmosphere,” he says. “I’m a fan of really deep sub bass that isn’t swamped by other sounds. There’s always enough room for some twinkly stuff on top and this big cavern, for the voice.” The new songs, like ‘Night Air’ or the future bossa-nova of ‘Tomorrow’ or the Radiohead-go-soulful undertones of ‘Street’ carry the intimate emotions of his early sound into a whole different room; bigger, badder… heavier.

This is a great album with a number of songs that show just how talented Jamie is as a producer, and such a soulful voice. There are songs for all moods; some upbeat, some relaxing and chilled. It doesn’t follow the mainstream way of music, but this makes him stand out. Totally original.

Woon’s debut album is entitled Mirrorwriting and was released on 18 April 2011 via Polydor Records.

by Ben Harris