UnkleJam

The group came together in the middle of the 2000s through the different musical experiences of Tyson Speede, Bobby Joel Stearns and Adonista. Stearns had worked as a producer before taking a more public vocal role, while Tyson brought a strong interest in both older soul singing and electronic music. The meeting gave the project more than one way to approach a song.

Love Ya introduced the recorded sound in 2007, followed by What Am I Fighting For? The latter reached the British top twenty, making the trio familiar beyond its early audience. The performance makes a virtue of a voice able to change texture quickly, moving from a sharply placed phrase into a much more expansive melodic line as the rhythm continues beneath it.

The self-titled album appeared in 2007, with the singles joined by material that developed the electro-soul setting at greater length. The arrangements could be synthetic without becoming emotionally distant, using the contrast between programmed precision and expressive singing as one of their principal musical devices.

The band's short initial catalogue leaves the first singles carrying a large part of its public identity. They remain distinctive because the mixture is practical rather than merely a list of influences: the voice needs the particular rhythm beneath it, and the electronic parts leave openings for a response that sounds improvised even within a carefully assembled recording. Unklejam's appeal lies in that sense of several active personalities finding a shared groove.