How Jones is finding her voice in a crowded industry

High hopes: ‘When you’re doing that your brain is not worrying about anything else,’ says 25-year-old singer Jones

Jones is currently going through the rites of passage of every rising star these days. With an appearance on Jools Holland and Phil Taggart’s Radio One show under her belt, the 25-year-old singer from Haggerston is on the well-trodden path to stardom.

Her second single ‘Hoops’ came out in November and showcases her soulful vocals set over flawlessly produced synth washes and electronic sounds, laying the foundation for her debut album New Skin, due out in the spring.

It’s clear to hear echoes of Stevie Wonder and Luther Vandross in her work, artists she heard around the house in her formative years in Aldgate. But it’s the combination of soul and electronica that gives Jones her truly unique sound.

Speaking from Tileyard Studios in King’s Cross where she’s putting the final touches to the record, she tells the East End Review: “As I grew up I started to listen to more electronic music, but I’ve always had my roots based in soul music.

“I love the two worlds and it was always important for me to find my own voice in an industry that’s so populated.”

Inspiration from the East is never far from her work either. Through the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, a constant awareness of the present moment, she says she is able to find herself, and create something unique from her disparate influences.

“I’ve had less doubts so that I’m free to be Jones. Music was my initial meditation and when you’re doing that your brain is not worrying about anything else and it’s just focusing on singing or writing,” she explains.

Made with a handful of producers and recorded in studios across the country, New Skin documents her progression as an artist thus far.

“It’s an album about growing up and figuring out who you want to be,” she says, “it’s about love, life and things like that which have come into my path.”

As she sings on her latest single, Jones expects she’ll have to to “jump through hoops” on her path to becoming a household name.

But if her recent sell out gig at St Pancras Church and hauntingly beautiful TV performance is anything to go by, fame may be just around the corner.

See Jones live at the ICA on 3 February or follow her on Twitter @iseeJONES