CityLife

Album Review: – Lemar: The Reason (Epic)

CityLife Rating: 3.0000 out of 5

LEMAR is one of the few enduring talents to emerge from the light entertainment cattle market of reality TV.

And the fact he came third in Fame Academy behind the long-forgotten David Sneddon reminds us just how wrong talent shows can get it.

Four albums in, he is an assured performer, but he needs his wits about him here just to avoid being overshadowed by the production.

The likes of Jim Johnson, Jack Splash and Salaam Remi summon an in-your-face, computerised kind of R&B in which the human element could easily be lost.

So we get the huge 1980s-inflected power ballad The Reason, well-manicured electro-pop such as Weight Of The World and Wait Forever, and the retro soul, complete with crackly samples, of Over You.

Does Lemar win the battle against the producers? For the answer to that, listen to Little Miss Heartbreaker, Lemar wrapping that honeyed larynx around a delicious shuffle groove.

Other stand-out is Trust Me, which injects a classic rock ‘n’ roll bassline into a sinuous piece of R&B, with Lemar seeking out the top notes in his range.

By Paul Taylor

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Released: 24/11/2008

Reader Rating: out of 5

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