James Morrison isn't just the owner of probably the most gobsmacking, charismatic, rootsy soul voice to emerge from a white Englishman. He's got substance to match his style and his lyrics pack an emotional punch. He's had plenty of hard knocks to draw on: a fractured family; debt burdens; few prospects; people breaking down around him; childhood friends growing up into adult junkies.
There's been love and romance and warmth and laughter too - stuff that kept him going through some very tough years. He poured his life into his songs and his brand of soulfulness isn't about trying to pastiche black America's past. But it is about unvarnished honesty, passion and letting your emotions go. As he says, "If you don't feel it in your heart, then don't go with it."