I really looked forward to hearing a new and genuine soul singer with an original, distinctive sound (i.e. NOT Joss Stone). But there’s something amiss here and I don’t think it’s a fault with the singer, Jonte Short…

Having listened to this album several times I was left wondering about some of the reviews I’ve read: “A truly epic soul voice” Music Week. “The finest soul voice since Aretha Franklin and this is no hyperbole.” The Daily Telegraph. And this is just a couple of several glowing reviews I’ve read. The first couple of tracks, When You Get Out Of Jail and Whatever I Choose I Lose passed by without causing a stir. Third track, Things Change is a beautiful song but I began to think that I was only hearing a fragment of this singer’s vocal quality, through some of the most uninspiring and flat production on a record I have ever heard. Things improve quite dramatically with Love I A Stranger, perhaps because Beth Gibbons co-wrote it and had a say in the recording process. Here the musical ambience created is both haunting, and memorable. It’s Too Late also just about survives the poor recording quality to sound reasonably passionate and sincere.

The centrepiece of this album is undoubtedly soul singer Jonte Short who could indeed be a highly talented soul singer. But the record’s production/recording quality is generally so poor that the voice is left struggling to make its mark, and sounds distant and uninvolving (hell, even the backing singers sound uncommitted). It’s one-dimensional (and I’m being generous here…) and sounds no better than a very poor demo recording (and I tried playing the album on two CD player set-ups). Soul is about emotional depth and drama, but with very few exceptions, this album doesn’t cut the mustard. Very, very disappointing.

3/5