James Morrison is one of the greatest blue-eyed soul vocalists since Steve Winwood. Morrison’s smooth voice bears more similarities in texture to a young Rod Stewart (circa Jeff Beck Group) and the aforementioned Winwood (circa Spencer Davis Group). And when he takes it up a notch (as he does on nearly each of Undiscovered’s eleven tracks), his voice bears an unnerving similarity to another Stevie, Mr. Wonder. The arrangements are tasteful, not overblown; they couch Morrison’s voice with just the right sort of backing. Shades of Jerry Wexler’s work for Aretha Franklin there. On most tracks the vocals are merely a single-tracked Morrison; on a few he harmonizes pleasingly with himself. One track features a soulful female backing chorus. The last track, “The Last Goodbye,” shows Morrison in the way he must have sounded coming up: a lone vocal, a lone guitar. Let’s give thanks that “Undiscovered” (a wry title if there ever was one) has the gloss it does.
