Lemar may have found fame thanks to a stint on Fame Academy in 2002 but he’s more than proven his musical credibility. Having released four album since 2003, Lemar has consistently delivered high-quality British soul music with a pop edge and given us plenty of hits along the way. Now 7 years on from his debut album Dedicated, Lemar is treating us to The Hits – a collection of his singles so far along with a few new tracks.
The Hits contains 12 of Lemar’s singles (including new hit The Way Love Goes) and three new tracks. Sequenced in chronological order the album takes you right back to the start with debut single Dance (With U). Early on his career Lemar played with the R&B/pop sound that many artists adopted during the Noughties. This sound was evident throughout the singles from Dedicated and it wasn’t until second album Time To Grow that he started to push forward his soul influences with the monster hit If There’s Any Justice.
For third album The Truth About Love Lemar stuck with the mid-tempo groove of his second album producing the hits It’s Not That Easy and Someone Should Tell You. Surprisingly three cuts from Lemar’s poorly received 2008 album The Reason manages to sneak three cuts on here – If She Knew, Weight Of The World, Mayday – although to be honest we think the album was badly done to. Lemar mixed up his usual sound with a harder R&B edge and for some reason it didn’t connect with the public.
Of the new material current single The Way Love Goes is a decent comeback tune whilst What About Love? (originally featured on Dedicated) has been re-recorded with JLS; don’t be surprised when that’s released as a single!
Lemar has had some really big hits so far in his career. The problem he has is that despite his distinctive voice his music can sometimes be a bit bland. This leads to people not always remembering his finest moments but hopefully The Hits will rectify that. Lemar is one of the best British male vocalists we have and he deserves to have a long and fruitful career.
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