Album Review: James Morrison - The Awakening

James Morrison - The Awakening

Having burst onto the scene in 2006 with his debut album Undiscovered, the 26 year old is back at number one in the album charts with his third release The Awakening.

There's no doubt that Morrison has the talent, the voice and the songwriting skills to be a brilliant artist. In the past, there have been great moments - singles You Give Me Something and Wonderful World are great pop records as is his duet with Nelly Furtado, Broken Strings. Morrison's problem, however, is that he doesn't seem to be able to maintain these high standards for a whole album.

Mike Diver at BBC Music sums this up perfectly: "The Awakening is lacking the grandstanding moment it needs to elevate it above reserved recommendation. Morrison has a truly great album in him – he’s the emotional baggage to craft it, should he let locked-away demons loose – but for the third time in a row, this isn’t it."

Yet again, the lead single (this time I Won't Let You Go) is by some distance the highlight of the record. Opening song In My Dreams is nice enough, but there's a misguided duet with Jessie J (Up) and as the album wears on it becomes less interesting and less original.

The choice of Bernard Butler as producer could have really helped Morrison develop his sound, but this is the Duffy era Butler rather than the man who provided some of the best singles of the 90s alongside David McAlmont.

Don't get me wrong - this is by no means a terrible record - but, as with Morrison's previous albums, it promises much and then doesn't really deliver. Shame.