There are a growing number of brilliant artists representing soul music or fusing soul with pop, indie, electronic and funk, creating something refreshing and new. So, I compiled 10 UK artists / bands in 2011; Adele, Clare Maguire, Corinne Bailey Rae, Bluey Robinson, Daley, Joss Stone, Sade, Plan B, Jessie J and Jaynee.

Adele

Adele, a 22-year-old North Londoner, has gained worldwide success from the moment she released her debut album, and this year, she’s breaking records again. His music couldn’t be further from the typical pop / dance scene that populates the charts. He has such a powerful voice, singing emotional jazz and soul songs like ‘Someone Like You’ and ‘Rolling In The Deep’. Wikipedia notes that she is the ‘first living artist to achieve the feat of two top-five hits on the UK Singles Chart and UK Albums Chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964.’ That’s a sobering achievement for the young soul singer.

Clare maguire

Clare Maguire, born in Birmingham, produces intricate pop music. It can’t be described as soul music per se, but with a voice similar to Annie Lennox, it’s hard not to describe Clare as soulful. Once again, only in her twenties, she portrays a level of experience through her lyrics and her voice, as heard in the brilliant song, ‘Strangest Thing’.

Corinne Bailey Rae

Leeds-born Corinne Bailey Rae is a talented jazz singer / musician who grows in a different direction with each album. In his second studio piece, the song ‘Closer’, as when mixed with his signature voice, is reminiscent of yesteryear, albeit the 70s, and still keeps it relevant. And then there’s his ‘The Love EP’ with 5 covers, including Prince’s 1979 hit ‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’, but not animated, but more synthesized than even the original.

Bluey robinson

Swedish-born, London-raised soul singer Bluey Robinson goes beyond the atypical soul music genre. He flawlessly blends his style with funk and pop, and he’s not afraid to sing a cappella or acoustically. You can tell he’s old-school inspired, but he definitely knows how to keep his music fresh and relevant to today’s times.

Daley

Daley’s voice is something of a hybrid, with Eric Benet’s tone and Prince’s falsetto, and yet on its own it remains poignant and yet unique. So it’s no surprise that he got to work on the pop song, ‘Doncamatic’ with the virtual British band, The Gorillaz. With a very different visual style of his own, you can’t help but feel that this year or next he will become a household name.

Joss Stone

Joss Stone is an effortless performer of all things soul music. At just 10 years old, when school kids liked The Spice Girls or The Backstreet Boys, the Kent singer’s first CD was ‘Greatest Hits’ by Aretha Franklin (Wikipedia). This year, Joss Stone looks set to release her fifth studio album to date at just 24 years old.

Sade

It’s great to see serious artists aiming to make music their life’s work, and that’s exactly what Sade has done. Sade, the artist and the band have not changed the effect their music has on the listener. Their music remains compelling, fascinating and relaxing at the same time, and their latest album ‘Soldier of Love’ is a testament to their ability to modernize their sound while staying true to themselves.

Plan B

Plan B, aka Ben Drew, aka Strickland Banks, is a singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, guitarist, actor, and director. The fact that he has so many talents might have hampered his progress in the music industry, but last year, he turned all eyes to his project, ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks,’ a soul album with a retro feel to it. motown. him, encapsulated with a story about a fictional character, as if the album were the soundtrack to a dramatic urban musical. If imitation is truly the best form of flattery, then the album is a stamp of old-school soul music in the midst of a music scene that is afraid to go back and beyond the ’80s for inspiration.

Jessie J

If you haven’t heard of Jessie J, even if you haven’t heard her music yet, where have you been? My apologies. It’s just that her name has been floating around like whispers, probably because she’s been working as a singer / songwriter, writing and co-writing songs for artists like Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus for a while. But then there is their debut album released in 2010 with two very different but notable singles, ‘Do It Like A Dude’ and ‘Price Tag’. If something should not be overlooked is her ability to sing, although like many artists of the MTV generation, the images can make you forget how good a singer she is.

Jaynee

Inspired by artists like Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, and India Arie, it’s easy to see where Jaynee gets her love for organic live music rather than the digital / electronic sounds that many other singers her age seem to choose from. He writes, produces and records his own material, fusing acoustic indie with R&B and soul in an indie-soul bar style (if such a place exists).