It has finally arrived! Luke Sital-Singh's début album The Fire Inside was originally scheduled for a March release, which would have come hot on the heels of his inclusion in the BBC Sound of 2014 poll, but, for undisclosed reasons, the release has been delayed until now. It's not just the BBC who were expecting Sital-Singh to blow up this year, expectations have been heaped on those young shoulders from all corners with his name appearing on hot-tip lists from Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, HMV and XFM. Pairing the young singer-songwriter with Jake Bugg producer Iain Archer can only have stoked the flames of hype and added to the sense of anticipation that this début was going to be huge. You could almost hear the critics sharpening their knives, getting ready to relegate this young upstart from his 'next big thing' status and leave him on the pile of also rans… just one problem – this album is actually rather good!

Familiar opening single 'Nothing Stays The Same' builds around an 'oh-ee-oh' refrain that, for some reason, reminds me of The Futureheads take on Hounds of Love by Kate Bush. The song is larger than the sum of its parts, built of minimal drums, up front acoustic guitar, simple bass guitar and Luke's captivating voice; filled with emotion and anguish it creates an atmosphere all on its own and adorned with crowd-like backing vocals becomes a rousing call to attention as the song develops. Despite the somewhat cliché themes the second track 'Greatest Lovers' is not pitched as drippy or whimsical: it's tough power pop aided by strong drums and another anthemic chorus. Damien Rice has been mentioned as a major inspiration for Sital-Singh – apparently it was hearing Cannonball that converted Sital-Singh from a Slipknot fan to the earnest song-writer we hear today. I'm not overly familiar with Rice's output, but if nothing else he's inherited the FM radio sound that I would associate with Rice and artists like him who took folky music to the mainstream. The Fire Inside is a wonderfully produced album.

'Bottled Up Tight' follows with shuffle drums, finger-picked guitar and a more laid back feel as he sings about 'caging the ocean' and 'downloading the sky'. The song builds and builds as drums become more insistent and the vocal opens up fully. '21St Century Heartbeat' has a suitably metronomic drum beat, a pulse that recalls the song title. There are lovely vocal layers, with Luke's full open voice backed by octaves of softer backing vocals. I can almost imagine this song, particularly the chorus, with a more 80's pop production. 'Lilywhite' takes us to another place again, opening with voice and piano, showcasing a lovely grit on the lead vocal. There's something almost hymnal about this one's melody and when the band joins in it is enriched by luscious warm horns. When it ends the song feels like it hasn't quite reached the potential heights it could have soared to.

'Nearly Morning' is pleasant enough, although it feels similar to something we've already heard on an earlier song, particularly the chorus. It's very sparse and has a great sense of tension and expectation. The emotional vocal is full blown but the instrumentation is held back with arpeggios and a sense of anticipation for drums that never break in. 'I Have Been A Fire' is another gentle number that continues the mid-album lull. There's something about the delivery of the opening lines accompanied by distant reverb soaked electric guitar which reminds me of Jeff Buckley, the voice is full of blues and soul then the screamed chorus is unexpectedly intense. Again there are no drums on this one, for almost three minutes, when we do finally get the release we've been waiting for the beat is a broken half time groove. A tiny powerful moment before the song strips right back to voice, electric piano and electric guitar.

'Fail For You' returns to the minimalism, this time with thick layered harmonised vocal, picked acoustic and a distant keyboard (organ or possibly harmonium) anchoring the low end. There's a touch of Buckley again in a guitar part that is reminiscent of his solo arrangement of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'. There's another fantastic and unexpected moment when the vocals glide up in unison to a higher note as the song builds toward crescendo. It's a really nice touch and adds credence to the suggestions some have made, that Sital Singh is destined to breath new life to the folk genre. 'We Don't Belong' starts with a big intro with an interesting piano tone, full of overtones and deep undertones – it's a broad sound that gives this song a character of its own that stands out along with the straight beat drums and rousing sing-a-long chorus.

I find a couple of lines jumping out at me from 'Cornerstone', 'maybe I am drunk and maybe you should take me home'. Sital-Singh is back in raw, confessional mode. There's a nice vibe to this song as he sounds vulnerable and needy but endearingly so. There are some nice touches in the production too with breaths of reverb and delays adding to the rhythm track of shuffling drums and soft snare. There's also a great electric guitar tone which sounds like it's been recorded through a rotary speaker – like a hammond organ using a leslie. The album closes with 'Benediction', a piano ballad that sounds, as it's title might suggest, like a short invocation for divine help.

In a recent interview with the Irish Times Luke admits that he could hardly tell what Rice was singing about, when he set about his transformation into a troubadour by learning cover sets made entirely of Rice songs. He felt that there was nothing cheesy about Rice and I'd have to disagree with him there, there is something cheesy about such unfettered full blown emotional histrionics. This album is equally guilty but I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I've got time for over the top emotion, especially when it feels like it's coming from a genuine place. Although there's a lot of familiar ground and some obvious choices there are enough unexpected moments here and Luke Sital-Singh comes across as unfalteringly likeable. It's a beautifully produced, emotional record and I hope it does as well as the initial hype suggested because it would be a real tragedy if he didn't get to follow this up. It feels like Luke Sital-Singh has got plenty more to offer, even after this pleasing first album.

Adam Kidd

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