Born David Keith Jordan in 1985 in Barnet, London, England, to a Montserratian mother and a Calcuttan father, he began writing songs as a teenager, drawing from influences such as Prince, Lenny Kravitz, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, and Jimi Hendrix. In time, his song "Sun Goes Down" caught the ear of Jill Sinclair of ZTT Records, who referred Jordan to her husband, veteran producer Trevor Horn. Jordan was in turn offered a recording contract with Mercury Records and released his debut album, Set the Mood, in 2007. Produced by Horn, the album was promoted with the lead single "Place in My Heart," which was made available as a free download on the website of the British newspaper The Sun. Though Set the Mood debuted meagerly at number 98 on the U.K. albums chart upon its release in October 2007, it subsequently rose to the upper reaches of the chart, particularly after the release of the follow-up single "Sun Goes Down," a Top Five hit on the U.K. singles chart, and third single "Move On." ~ Jason Birchmeier