Odua does it different

Thursday, February 09, 2012

MANY artistes use the formula of a successful album for their follow-up, but not Yannis Odua. The Martinique-born singer wanted a totally different feel for his third album, most of which is being recorded in Jamaica.

The yet-titled album is produced by veteran Jamaican musician/producer, Clive Hunt.

Yannis was previously signed to Sony France which distributed his second album, High Tunes. That set was a mix of hip-hop, reggae and dancehall and reportedly sold over 300,000 units in France, big numbers for that country.

For his next album, Yannis decided to take another path.

"I want to present the real foundation of the reggae music, the real sound. That's what really turns people on in France," he told the Observer

recently during a break from recording at the Mixing Lab studio in Kingston.

For that authentic roots sound, the Paris-based Yannis and his management recruited Hunt, who has worked on big-selling albums by French acts like Pierpoljak, Bernard Lavilliers and Khaled.

Hunt brought in some experienced musicians on the project including guitarist Wayne Armond, keyboardist Lloyd 'Obeah' Denton and members of the rising C Sharp band. Most of the sessions were done at Mixing Lab, Kings of Kings and Tuff Gong studios.

While in Jamaica, Yannis plans to record as many as 15 songs in his native French.

This is not the first time the dreadlocked vocalist has worked in the land of reggae. He was here in 2007 to work on High Tunes which showcased the talents of established musicians like drummer Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace and guitarist Earl 'Chinna' Smith.

Those musicians worked on classic songs by artistes Yannis listened to as a youth in Martinique. He remembers jamming to his parents' collection of reggae records which included roots stalwarts Culture and Jacob Miller.

His debut album featured mainly French musicians and returned encouraging sales. It was High Tunes that broke Yannis in his adopted country, where it was certified platinum.

Yannis and his management plan to release an English version of his new album in 2013.