Amos Lee

OK, here's the deal. It’s simple really, if you like Norah Jones, particularly her first album, then there's no doubt that you'll like Amos Lee.

Signed to the same record company — the legendary jazz label, Blue Note Records — as the famous Ms Jones, the connections between them, both musical and otherwise, run deep. Same label, same bassist (Lee Alexander, Norah Jones' bassist and partner, produced and plays on 'Amos Lee'), similar melodies and material. But that's the simple view.

Although 'Arms of a Woman' has all the sublime lilting melancholy of Jones' 'Turn me on' or 'Come Away With Me', the album as a whole has as many differences with Norah Jones as it shares similarities.

Relying less on the sultry jazz that helped Norah Jones to her runaway success, Lee's eponymous debut album is firmly in the middle of the road, but with enough satisfying diversions off the beaten track to keep it interesting. There's a quick stop-off at gospel and blues before swinging back onto the mainstream then heading off to melancholy.

'Keep it loose, Keep it tight' seems a strange title for the delicately lilting opening track. A touching song about inner-city life and love, it’s the kind of track you’d expect to accompany the closing credits of Ally McBeal as she walks home with the snow falling gently on the streets of NYC.

Lee's not all about broken hearts and smoky rooms though. 'Bottom of the Barrel' has a bluegrass quirkiness to it and 'Give it up' sees Lee in a decidedly upbeat mood. 'Arms of a Woman' meanwhile slips seamlessly from loungey jazz into gentle blues and southern gospel.

While the opening chords of 'Amos Lee' had me screaming "Norah Jones wannabe!", by the end of the album it’s clear that Amos Lee is nothing of the sort. Sure, the melodic links and seamless production are there, but Lee is most definitely an artist in his own right, with a style that, while not as slick or polished as Jones', is perhaps more authentic.

This is an album with some great melodies, hooks in all the right places and lyrics that manage to be soul-searching and insightful without reverting to cliché. It's an impressive debut, and with this just his first outing with Blue Note there can only be some great things to come.