On a good day in London you might actually hear the sound of the melting pot. In a cafe there could be jazz. As the cars go by, hip-hop beats and baselines. Reggae booming from a vinyl shop and your flatmate blaring R’n'B. It’s not going to happen every day, but over a lifetime, even a short one of nineteen years, the history of strong urban sounds might rub into a person’s blood and they might grow up musically wise before their years.
Born and raised in North London, Amy Winehouse spent her teenage years balancing school and boyfriends with hours locked in her bedroom, ears glued to classic song chord changes. Horny, sleazy, salty spiritual, worldly wise, late night, downtown, flirty velvet resonance that makes for a great soul-jazz singer only goes half way to describing Amy’s voice.
She might sound like a 40s jazz singer, but she’s using forefront beats and lyrics and her debut album Frank reveals a singer who can sing from the heart but also find light and shade in the city turbulence.
Nominated for 2 Brit Awards (Best Female and Best Urban categories) and a prestigious Ivor Novello Award (Best Contemporary Song category for Stronger Than Me ) it is no surprise that Amy is fast becoming the most talked about female singer songwriter in the UK.
