by Howard Campbell
KINGSTON, Jamaica – When it comes to making music, Sophia Brown is an old school girl at heart. For her, melodies and slick arrangements are must-haves for classic lovers rock stew.
She uses those ingredients in Baby When You Left, an easy-listening ballad she co-produced with veteran musician Sidney Mills. The song is scheduled for release on February 14, Valentine’s Day.
“Melodies are very important when writing a song that your audience likes to sing with you when you are performing. Arrangement is key to making your lyrics compatible to the musical instruments, so for me they are very important not only to contemporary reggae but to all genres of music,” said Brown.
For Baby When You Left, she renewed ties with Mills who worked on The Spotlight, her first album in 2009. A keyboardist, he is best known for his years recording and touring with Grammy-winning roots-reggae band, Steel Pulse.
Brown has made her reputation as a lovers rock queen. Some of her earlier songs, including the bouncy Lovers Rock and Give me That Good Love, maintain a consistence since she began recording professionally in 2007.
Baby When You Left is her latest single since returning to recording 18 months ago. Brown was involved in a near-fatal auto accident in Baltimore, Maryland in 2017, which resulted in her and two passengers in her car sustaining serious injuries.
Two operations and numerous visits to the doctor later, she returned to recording with songs like Changes which she did fellow singer Ginjah last year. ‘Voicing’ again has been therapeutic, she said.
“I didn’t really have any real drive to do music anymore when you lay on your back for a year and then a new year comes and you are still being withheld from doing what you love because of injuries and doctor’s restrictions; it’s like your psyche took a huge blow,” Brown explained. “I really was in a dark place far away from music. Right now, I feel safe to say that music has my full attention.”
