Five years ago, singer Tom Laing decided to put his career on hold and improve a critical aspect of his sound.

“I slowed down the recording because I was building a recording studio. Truth is, I wasn’t happy with the standard of production and rhythms I was voicing on,” he said.

Tom Laing

‘Finally Free’ is the first song Laing has released since his comeback. It was done at his Top Tier Recording Studio, located in Brooklyn, New York.

The song is produced by Danny Marshall, a drummer who previously did session work for producers Lloyd ‘King Jammys’ James and Bobby ‘Bobby Digital’ Dixon.

Marshall also produced ‘One More Thing’, another song recently done by Laing.

Although artists such as Luciano and Chuck Fenda have recorded for the Top Tier label, Laing says his own projects are priority.

Those projects include re-recordings of ‘If You Feel The Vibes’, ‘Heavy Load’, ‘Belly of the Beast’ and ‘Come Back Home’, songs he did early in his career.

“They were lyrically strong but musically weak, so wi jus’ lick dem over,” Laing stated.

Laing was raised in the tough Jones Town and Majesty Gardens communities of Kingston. He remembers listening to The Wailers, Alton Ellis and Delroy Wilson, who inspired him to become a professional singer.

‘Finally Free’ is a joint release between Top Tier and Kingston-based Black Scorpio Records, and made the No.1 spot for four weeks on the New York Foundation Radio Network Music Chart.

-Howard Campbell