17. James Morrison Undiscovered
Hands-down, my favourite new artist of 2007. It's ridiculous to me that no one has really heard of this guy. (Unless all the people who have are lame or from VH1, in which case I obviously wouldn't know about them, since I don't associate with lame people. Or VH1 people.) At any rate, in a world being quickly and seemingly irreversibly drained of singers -- or maybe just overfilled with folks that have no business singing (looking at you, Brandon Flowers), this kid can flat-out blow. It's an unlikely package: He's 22, British (didn't you see the "u" in "favourite?") and a shaggy-haired dead ringer for Chris Martin, but Morrison's voice, a 70/30 split between Stevie and early Rod, is a revelation.
And the tunes! Sweet Lord, the tunes! Naturally soulful (no small feat), familiar without being cloying -- when did it become a crime to just write great songs? The strenuous avoidance of pop is just so damn trying to me. Listen to "Wonderful World" or "Under the Influence" and try not to sing along. Morrison also scores major points with "The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore," a knockout of a ballad that just underscores the fact that no one writes good ballads anymore.
Man, reading that back, maybe I should have ranked him higher.
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