R&B love-pup Lemar Obika so manifestly outshone the other wannabes in the first series of Fame Academy that his defeat by the beige David Sneddon still demands a recount.

This debut - released nearly a year later, after the career-nobbling associations had faded - presents him as north London's answer to Luther Vandross: a romantic of the old school who sells a song with understated sleekness and a hint of chest fur.

The contents are all Obika co-writes save for a hip-hoppety version of Al Green's Let's Stay Together; the mid-tempo boudoir grooves hardly do justice to the voice, but at least lay the foundations for what could be a substantial future.

The singles Dance (With U) and 50/50, both sly mating calls that have you checking the sleeve photo to be sure he's not actually a moustache-twiddling 40-year-old, are funktastic. The rest may be just OK - but surely there's better to come.