Having followed Lemar all the way through the old-school Fame Academy series (back when the telly format was reasonably fresh!), I’ve always considered the Tottenham-born soulster to have more musical integrity and smoother grooves that many other R&B artists.

R&B is not my thing. On the surface I often think of the genre as pretentious, plain,and a straightforward blast of OTT production and lyrical egotism, but I wanted to give Lemar’s fourth studio album, new release “The Reason”, a fighting chance to prove to me that good quality commercial music is not a thing of the past. And also that stubborn indie-pilgrims can indulge in something more accessible occasionally!

On an initial listen it’s clear that Lemar’s bowled off in a slightly different musical direction, as I can’t find much of the subtle, sultry tones of earlier singles “If There’s Any Justice” and “50/50”. The record is geared to sound exciting right from the piano-driven blast of title track “The Reason”. Attention-grabbing, tuneful and stuffed full of clubby drums, I’m almost scared the LP’s going to be far too Timbaland for me. Thankfully, Lemar’s been sensible enough to stir in as many flavours as possible into his latest offering and maintaining his knack for balladry. Take the soul-cranking bass lines of “Trust Me”, the motown-sexy “Over You”, the George-of-the-jungle fun of “Little Miss Heartbreaker”, the juicy ballad “Mayday” – all burnt with Lemar’s trademark warm vocals and to-the-point lyrics, but varied enough in taste to cater for most people’s palettes.

First single “If She Knew” is smooth, guitar-ridden and stinks of medium-sized nightclub vibes, end-of-album highlight “Not What You Say” is stupidly catchy (perfect for those virtuosic shower moments), and “Black Tide” relies on the violins to lead us out on a slightly more subdued note – probably a wise decision after the relentless chugging of most of the previous songs!

Personally I reckon I’d like to see Lemar try something much more lo-fi , as although it’s clear a lot of thought has gone into “The Reason”’s musical feel, the heavy instrumentation and wah-wah-wacky arrangement of some of the tracks should have been toned down, if only to bring the emphasis back to the vocal talent that scored Lemar his record deal in the first place. 38 minutes of grandeur is definitely enough, but an enjoyable 38 minutes it certainly is.
...So WHERE’S David Sneddon now? ?...
(Released 24th November)