Badger's Album of the Month - James Morrison - Awakenings
In a complicated and political change of record label he says he wanted to mark the occasion with songs from the heart.
The album certainly has its high points, and is tied together by Morrison's great vocals and some nice instrumentation.
Some may say it is a little bland and ultimately unmemorable but that would be unfair as if songs tell the tale of true love then James has used this album as a tribute to his dad who recently passed away and his own new son.
Fans will lap it up and embrace the sound, be touched by the heartfelt lyrics and delicate strummings - although I feel this album will struggle for chart success.
Stand out tracks include lead single 'I Won't Let You Go' – traditional James Morrison tune. ‘Up’ which features Jessie J and is definitely the big single – we hope!
When James came in he told us that he wanted to create an actual album rather than a collection of songs. It feels like this is one of those incredibly personal albums that you could easily be highly critical of, except for the feeling that while listening to it you know that this is something that he is immensely proud to have done but isn’t really concentrating on the end result. Listening to 'Person I Should Have Been' you realise there’s a moment in every musicians life when he just wants to take stock and it proves to be something memorable.
I have to say I’m slightly biased, I am a huge fan of James Morrison so when I hear ‘Beautiful Lie’ it just adds something extra to a long list of favourite songs but some may say it’s a little predictable. I have no doubt that if this was his first album it would be a huge seller all the way to Christmas but as it’s his 3rd then you do expect to see the mix changed slightly.
Score 7/10
