Nathan Sykes - Unfinished Business

The Guardian 40

(Global Entertainment)

When boyband the Wanted chose to hang up their skinny jeans in 2014 it was assumed they’d disappear for ever. The pointedly titled Unfinished Business, the debut solo album from alumnus Nathan Sykes, feels focus-grouped into hammering home his creative emancipation. Tracks such as Kiss Me Quick and Twist are both glossy, retro-by-numbers soul songs, while throughout his voice is stretched thin by the earnestness of his delivery. Too often, his anonymity makes it sound like you’re listening to other people: a touch of Usher with a cold on Money; John Legend’s blank sheen on the ballads; elsewhere, the occasional whiff of Bruno Mars. The songs are often solid, Famous, especially, but as a whole it’s all too forgettable.