James Morrison - Undiscovered

21 year old Morrison is a white British lad with a soulful voice that has been compared to Otis Redding. He was born in Rugby but moved to Cornwall in his teens. He is a young, slightly scruffy, soul balladeer is a music market that has seen its fair share of similar singers. He has been compared to James Blunt which I think is unfair. At least I hope so, as I was never a fan of Blunt’s music and I don’t think that the shy Morrison is as bland as the other James. My typical music tastes do not normally include white, male, soul singers and I’ll walk over hot coals to avoid them normally, but something about Morrison’s Top Five debut single You Give Me Something attracted my attention and made me want to listen to more. He has a deep gravelly voice which at times reminds me of Stevie Wonder. He claims always to have had this voice since childhood, though he admits it is possibly exacerbated by smoking. Morrison has co-written all the thirteen songs on the album. It was released in July and went to Number One in August.

The CD has a strong start with a track called Under the Influence. It has a catchy hook and Morrison’s vocals sound charmingly grating with a dash of soul, and sounds the most like a Stevie Wonder Motown track and is about being intoxicated by someone and powerless to know your own mind.

The second track is Morrison’s debut single the melodic You Give Me Something that currently gets so much airplay, (which I hope will not be to his detriment) on a variety of rock, pop and easy listening type radio stations. The lyrics are about taking that first step into a new relationship and the track is one of the more positive and uplifting songs on the album which have a tendency to be about relationship break ups.

This is followed by Wonderful World a song about feeling down and not able to appreciate things. It has a catchy, foot-tapping beat and is one of the best songs on the CD in spite of the slightly depressing lyrics.

The ballad The Pieces Don’t Fit anymore is a song about a relationship that no longer works and facing the inevitable. It is one of the slower tracks on the album, and Morrison sings in very softly, especially at the beginning, and resists belting the vocals out as he did on the earlier tracks.

One Last Chance is another ballad with a slight rock touch and is about his last opportunity to sort himself out and find happiness. I have no idea if the song is autobiographical or not, but it certainly sounds as if it is sung from the heart. There is a strong blues element to this song.

Undiscovered in the albums’s title track and in it Morrison invites a lady (presumably) to look a bit deeper, and try and find the real him. It is a very uplifting song, almost gospel in parts with a female vocal chorus.

The Letter is about receiving a letter from a lover and being afraid to open it. Again, it is quite bluesy with the emphasis on gravelly vocals, drums and some harmonica.

Call The Police is not about a criminal act but the feeling of a loss of control at the end of a relationship. I don’t think I am alone in starting to see a pattern here?! It is a good rock song and has a fabulous guitar riff that is rather Nirvana-esque (an influence, along with Hendrix, I was initially surprised that Morrison had) and it rather works with Morrison’s raw edged vocals belting out. I like muchly and easily my favourite.

This Boy was apparently written by Morrison a few years ago when he wasn’t seeing eye to eye with his mother, it is more a song of friendship and putting things behind you than love, which makes a change. It is probably one of the weaker songs in the album but is an enjoyable filler track none the less.

The Otis Redding influence is obvious in a number of tracks, but none more so than If The Rain Must Fall which is very soulful song about how it doesn’t matter if it rains, as long as he has your love.

How Come is another rockier ballad. I don’t think Morrison is able to do a track with a faster beat, just with more frantic vocals. The song is about a relationship where the partner doesn’t seem to know what they want.

The Last Goodbye is (no surprise here) an end of relationship ballad. Rather slow and plodding and adding nothing new. I only notice it playing as it is one of the longest tracks of the album.

Better Man is about how he has become a better man because of his relationship, another slow ballad, this time sung just with a guitar. However I felt it was a disappointing closing track.

I don’t think his lyrics are so deep and meaningful that they will have too many lonesome souls reaching for the razor blades, I think the fact that there is such a theme running through the CD means I am more likely to switch off listening to the lyrics, although one should remember that not all the songs are about relationship break ups and some, such as Give Me Something, are more positive. I feel they are not the kind of lyrics that I would sing along to in the car (where the engine drowns my wailing out) but a lot of the songs have a catchy melody.

The inlay booklet contains the lyrics to all tracks and a few black and white photos of liver performances and studio sessions. At the back of the booklet he thanks his dad for introducing him to his record collection (no Barbra Streisand at his parents house then, unlike mine?) and Uncle Joe for introducing him to the blues and also lists his varied influences of Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Cat Stevens, Nirvana, Radiohead and Marc Bolan to name just a few.

http://www.jamesmorrisonmusic.com/

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