You can't ignore Andru Donalds: the Jamaican is almost two meters tall (6 foot something), trim and athletic. Most obvious characteristics are his long dreads - almost notorious for any man from the Caribbean island. But that's it, cliché-wise. In contrast to most if his countrymen, Andru Donalds is not only about Reggae and Rastafari mythology. This is easily explained by the experiences of his childhood and youth.
"My father was a professor of theology and psychology and the campus used to be my playground. We traveled a lot, too. My dad worked at the Princeton University, in Atlanta, Ga., London and in New York City." As a kid, Andru Donalds saw a lot of the world. His musical development was moulded by the most different influences. In this respect, too, his father played an important role.
"As a child, I was taught classical music and I sang in a boys' choir. My dad gave me many records, some of them Beatles records. The Beatles were my first excursion into the realm of Rock and Pop music." While his father wished for his son to take up an academic career, Andru Donalds didn't really find the thought so attractive and after finishing school he left home.
He spent some time in England, Holland and France trying to make it as a musician. But for many years it didn't quite seem to work. Andru Donalds had already been thinking of giving up music and going back to Jamaica, when renowned producer Eric Foster-White (Whitney Hoston, Hi Five, Britney Spears) offered him a contract.
The result was his very successful debut album "Andru Donalds", released in 1995. The super-relaxed hit single "Mishale" climbed the US charts up to number four. And in Europe and the Far East, too, "Mishale" clung fast to the charts for a long time. His ambition to create "universal World Pop" - as Donalds calls his music - of great diversity and full of atmopshere, turned out to be right and successful.
He slowed down for his second album, though. "With this album, I wanted to show my personal development, not just come up with another "Mishale". It's like with movies, the follow-up is never as good as the original." In 1998, "Damned If I Don't" was released.
Shortly after the release, Andru Donalds got a call from producer Michael Cretu (Enigma). "He was on vacation in Greece and had heard "Mishale" and wanted me to sing on his Enigma project", Andru Donalds remembers, "at first, I was a little surprised but then I said to myself, why not." Donalds and Cretu met and both realized quickly that they'd get along very well.
The work on the Enigma project was postponed, because Michael offered Andru to produce a complete album with him. Andru Donalds is greatly impressed by his cooperation with Michael Cretu, "I learned a lot from him. Michael's musical range is a phenomenon. I listened to music from Pakistan, Marocco, India and many other countries and this opened new horizons for me. This was a real challenge and I found new ways to use my voice."

"I write my songs for everybody, I always try to touch them. For this, I mix different elements of various musical styles, Pop, Ethno, Reggae and even R&B." says Andru Donalds. "It's music for everybody. Whether they're old or young, black or white. It's a fusion of many influences and ways but it always has - the smallest common denominator, so to speak - my own, very personal note."

With his fourth album LET'S TALK ABOUT IT, the Jamaica born Donalds created another new and fascinating cosmos of sound. All the new songs show obviously the great personal and also musical developments Andru Donalds has undergone these past two years. "I'd never try to make the same album twice. I hate copies." he explains. "My past three albums differ from each other very clearly, and LET'S TALK ABOUT IT shows me from a completely different and, I think, distinctly more mature side."

True enough, there's is a continous development from the 1995 debut ANDRU DONALDS, to the second album DAMNED IF I DON'T, released in 1998, and its successor SNOWING UNDER MY SKIN to the brandnew album. The number of journeys during the past two years have added immensely to Andru's experiences, just like the permanent and intensive exchange with his fans. "I really learned a lot in my concerts. The feedback of the fans helped me enormously to become a better live performer and to gain a sure feeling for grooves." The general experiences in life and living, he says, have made especially strong impressions on him. "These many trips to these different countries, that I was away from home so many times, and then the beauty of returning to my home country have sharpened my senses, made me more sensitive for myself and my feelings." This sense of yearning and homesickness finds a delicate expression in the beautiful song "My Place Is Here", perfectly interpreted by Andru's warm and clear voice.

"My singing is the red thread between all my albums and their numerous songs," he defines the unique Andru Donalds Trademark. "Also, my songwriting has improved. The tunes are catchier than ever, the lyrics are as emphatic and personal as they've never been before. You could say in short: it's more me than ever!"

As already on SNOWING UNDER MY SKIN, Andru again worked with Michael Cretu in the latter's "state of the art" studio on Ibiza. On the sunny mediterranean island, Andru found the necessary seclusion again to concentrate fully on his music. "I always call the atmosphere in Michael's house "The Sound Of Silence". When we're working at night there's this wonderful silence around, and during the day it's the perfect spot to hang out in the sun." And, every time Andru encounters a climate almost comparable to his tropical home Jamaica. "No sirens, no noisy traffic, only palmtrees, fruit trees and an incredibly blue sky. I'm able to relax totally, I think of nothing and I feel completely free."

Cretu turned out to be the perfect partner this time again, whose seemingly unlimited sensibility and technical knowledge helped Andru's songs to their brilliant sound. In addition to that, Cretu's experiences with World Music, his love for the music of Africa and Asia, opened doors to new horizons and new ways of expression. "I was introduced to the music from Marocco, Pakistan, India and loads of other exotic countries. I found many new possibilities to use my voice in the most different ways."

On LET'S TALK ABOUT IT, Andru Donalds presents 12 new songs, ten written by himself and the first single "Precious Little Diamond" which was already relaeased in early summer last year, originally by Fox The Fox. The album is finished off with a brilliant cover version of Gino Vannelli's "It Hurts To Be In Love", uniquely interpreted by Andru.

"LET'S TALK ABOUT IT is an album based entirely on the experience of my live concerts and it needs to be performed live, too," says he. "It is a very homogenous album. It's not made to consist of three minute singles. So, some of the songs are longer and don't necessarily fit the tight radio format. You should listen to my songs, take them in consciously and not consume them as some background soundtrack." Which is very unlikely to happen, considering the excellent music on LET'S TALK ABOUT IT.