Lemar: The Reason

"Is anybody listening to the radio?" asks a lost-sounding Lemar Obika midway through his fourth album. The Fame Academy success story has sold more than 1.5 million CDs, but still struggles to shine and The Reason isn't about to change matters. Unlike 2006's The Truth About Love, this album steers clear of clammy-palmed duets but ends up stuck between gritty, old-school soul and the slick bleeps of contemporary R&B. Whether Lemar is the patient gentleman in Wait Forever or booty-bedazzled lothario in Little Miss Heartbreaker, his voice is always listenable but painfully low on personality. The creaking lyrics of the title track and the Coldplayish Weight of the World are low points on an album riddled with insecurity. Only among the horn stabs and strings of Over You - singing like Sam Cooke - does Lemar sound like a star.