Joe McElderry

“The Climb” introduced McElderry to a broad audience in 2009, following his X Factor win. The song gave the vocal an immediately dramatic frame, with a clear build towards the refrain. It also created an expectation that the first full album would continue in the same ballad language.

Wide Awake in 2010 offered a different picture. “Ambitions” gave the singing a brighter electronic-pop setting, asking the voice to move with a tighter rhythm rather than simply rise above a slow arrangement. The change makes the album a useful part of the story even for listeners whose first point of recognition is the debut single.

Classic followed through Decca in 2011, putting the performance inside a different repertoire and production setting. Orchestral colour and more sustained melodic lines allow the voice another kind of space, bringing the act of interpretation further into the foreground.

The two early albums are revealing precisely because their musical surroundings differ. McElderry’s voice has to find a place inside a programmed pop rhythm on one record and a much broader instrumental gesture on the other. The continuity is in the care of the phrasing. A line remains clearly directed towards its destination, with the melody given enough room to arrive without being hurried. That steadiness is a more useful guide to the singer than any single genre label.