Dawna Lee has been called "the new Marcia Griffiths," an honour few commentators on modern British reggae would deny her. Nor is this description limited to her soulful vocal style, which in any case is unique. Like her famous Jamaican counterpart, Dawna has held on strongly to her own identity. She's refused to be coerced into singing too many cover versions at the expense of her own original material, or shunted into a lovers rock category.

Nor has she succumbed to being portrayed as a strictly roots artist, although her spiritual beliefs are never far from the surface, even in her love songs.
Reality is the glue which binds together the diverse strands of her work; that and a relentless quest for honesty, no matter the subject at hand.She thus acts as a conscious role model for other aspiring female reggae talent by simply being herself, and now rightly celebrates her eagerly awaited debut album for Mykey Simpson.
As you'd expect from the quality of her output, Dawna comes from a musical background. Her entire family either sang or played guitar, whilst her brother's sound-system Jah Youth has been playing roots music in the Forest Gate area of London since the 1970s. She was hence exposed to the music of Jamaican reggae legends like Marcia, Bob Marley, Bob Andy, Freddie McGregor and Bunny Wailer from childhood; the baselines on Bunny's Blackheart Man album first inspiring her to learn bass guitar.

By the age of fifteen she was attending the Skinners Girl School in Stamford Hill and had joined the all-female teenage reggae band Equity; initially playing bass, then guitar, and finally singing lead vocals. She also learnt to play drums, trumpet and keyboards, and was writing the majority of the group's material by the time Evelyn Marius invited her to build riddim tracks for Women In Music's stable of UK talent in 1987. Evelyn produced her debut Apartheid that same year, backed with MC Cinderella's Free Africa.

From then on Dawna decided to make her own demo tracks, with Progressive and Discotex being the first two lucky recipients. Lovers rock side 6AM subsequently became her breakthrough hit in 1993, after which a steady stream of local releases followed. Although mainly romantic by nature these tracks had substance to them, and two years later Don't Give Up for Saxon reinforced just how effective she could be singing message songs; especially when matched to powerful riddims.

Such developments were carefully noted by producer Mykey Simpson, whose MCS label has done so much to highlight UK reggae newcomers and veterans alike.
He promptly invited her to record an album at his studio in South London, and recut some classic riddims for the occasion. Some originate from Studio One, Jamaica's very own Motown; others were first heard behind the likes of Bob Marley, Augustus Pablo, Faybienne, Horace Andy and Errol Dunkley.

They're now enhanced further by Dawna's outstanding new songs and often stunning vocal arrangements, making this set one of the most significant UK reggae releases of recent times.

Several of these tracks have already proved their popularity as hit singles, but this album is unique in that it tells a story throughout its length; a story that's at once universal and personal.

It's a record of one woman's spiritual and emotional journey through life, fraught with passion, tenderness, loss, defiance and ultimately salvation. It's told with rare truthfulness, her expressive songs lent wings by Mykey's wide range of roots, lovers, dancehall and even acoustic musical backing.

If you haven't yet experienced the art of Dawna Lee, this is your best chance to date. She has the potential to join the ranks of reggae's finest, and on this evidence is already well on the way.

John Masouri