What are the bets that Jamie Woon is ready to punch the next person that mentions the name James Blake in a sentence with his? Of course, the reasons there have been so many comparisons are painfully clear. Besides the completely irrelevant facts that they're both named James and both featured on the BBC's much discussed Sound of 2011 poll, both 20-something Londoners combine understated soul and smooth contemporary electronics with elegance and panache. But there the similarities end, with Woon having much more fun with danceable beats and quirky harmonies than his oft associated peer.
Single 'Lady Luck' is immediately entrancing, its lightweight electronic beats and immediately catchy melody making it an off-kilter dancefloor winner. Similarly, 'Night Air' combines mesmerizing rhythms with reverb-laden synths and churchlike backing vocals for a spooky yet still brilliantly funky number. Disparate elements though these may seem, it's all effortlessly pulled together by Woon's own quivering soul vocal, while the enormous sense of space throughout 'Mirrorwriting' makes for a light and thoroughly refreshing listening experience all round.
Though the most instantaneous of these ten tracks are those uptempo ones, Woon is just as comfortable with more laidback R&B, and this side of him comes out even more so in the album's second half. Sinister strings create an ominous atmosphere on the downbeat 'Gravity' while closer 'The Waterfront' is as simple as it gets here, really letting Woon's voice shine alongside its gracefully plucked acoustic guitar. There's a slight danger that those enthralled by Woon's few radio-friendly numbers will be disappointed by how much time 'Mirrorwriting' dedicates to his mellower, and indeed more melancholy, endeavours. It's an album of two halves, it seems, both with the power to charm and excite, albeit in entirely different ways.
