You're probably thinking to yourself right about now something like "just what the world needs, another white, British, blue eyed soulboy from England." You'd be entirely justified to think such a thing too. I know I sure as hell did when I first read about James Morrison, the latest in a seemingly endless line of "next big things" to come from across the pond.

So it's easy — natural even — to be a bit skeptical.

The thing is, there's just something different about James Morrison. Undiscovered isn't, by any means, the album destined to change music like many people would have you believe. But there is an instantly familiar quality about Morrison's voice that's hard to really put a finger on. He sounds like about a million other great singers that I could think of, but not a single one I could actually name. Not only does he sound like someone who's been doing this far longer than his twenty one years on this earth, but someone whose voice has, in fact, always been with us.

The other thing about this record is there are just so many great songs on it. There's really not a clunker in the bunch. The opening track, "Under The Influence" recalls John Barleycorn era Traffic with it's breezy, bluesy vibe. "Wonderful World" finds Morrison doing his own sort of uptake on the Sam Cooke classic, with lines like "It's a wonderful world, but I can't feel it right now" sung in the world weary sort of voice that once again betrays his mere 21 years.

But again, it all comes back down to Morrison's voice. On a surface level, it does bare some resemblance to other British R & B singers from Paul Young to the more "adult" leanings of someone like George Michael. But there are rougher edges here which balance out the smoother tendencies of those singers. The closest thing I could really compare Morrison to is somebody like Terrence Trent Darby (remember him?), but with a touch of R & B smoothness (like the aforementioned Sam Cooke) thrown in there for good measure. In fact, the track "If The Rain Must Fall" sounds like nothing so much as a slowed version of Darby's "Wishing Well," but with more of a bluesy feel to it.