The Hits and the pits

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IN MY last encounter with Lemar, 2008’s The Reason, I drew comparisons with the South American beast of burden the llama, because they’ve got similar names.
I know, I know, brilliant, wasn't it.
And judging by his greatest hits package The Hits, Lemar can still carry a tune with the best of them - he’s just been not given them enough.
Lemar’s vocals are impossibly good, with a husky tone and a diva-like ability to showboat - perhaps the biggest compliment you can pay Lemar is that he’s almost never referred to as a product of reality TV, he's grown into an artist.
The problem is that for every soulful It’s Not That Easy or If There’s Any Justice, there's a The Way Of The World or a Time To Grow - resulting in a patchy listen, about 50/50 you might say.