A young Joss Stone surprised and stunned many when they came to realise her
soulful voice belonged to a white girl from Devon and not a black woman from
Texas. Newcomer James Morrison could possibly have the same affect.
This 21-year-old from Rugby has been inspired by Al Green, Cat Stevens,
Stevie Wonder, The Kinks and the mixture of tastes definitely shows. Whilst
the influence of the album’s producer Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, Ron
Sexsmith and Ed Harcort) is obvious, the brass section harks back to the
blatant style of the soul legends he was raised on.
The beat is mellow and lethargic; whilst his husky voice adds to the
slightly one dimensional lyrics plus the wonderful use of brass instruments
brings something new to a market dominated by the quite dull James Blunt. A
decent, though not great start to his career. But with a string of sell out
performances and the inevitable MySpace exposure, he should be going places.
Rating: 3/5
Label: Polydor
Website: www.jamesmorrisonmuisc.com
Words: Limara Salt