Jacob Collier has been widely hyped as the next big thing in jazz. He is a multi-instrumentalist, sings, and happens to be social media friendly, fully embracing the various platforms that us old timers don’t fully understand. His early covers of Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely and Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing brought him to the attention of Quincy Jones as early as 2013. Since then, he worked with a student at MIT to design a unique live Performance Vehicle, which – amongst other things – allows him to multi-track his voice and create multi-part harmonies on the spot, even in a live setting.

Songs from In My Room, his debut recording, have been gradually drip-fed via YouTube, accompanied state-of-the-art videos, which use cool graphics to illustrate both his multi-instrumentalism and his multi-part vocal harmonies.

All of which is very clever, but does his debut album live up to the hype? 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the album struggles to meet the lofty expectations.

The album starts strongly with the heavy funk of Woke Up Today, with its thundering drum opening. The fragmented, stop-start nature of the song is glued together by some very nice touches – the funky bass line, the neat handclaps around the one minute mark, and a nice keyboard solo as the song breaks down. There’s more than a hint of Stevie Wonder about it, which is hardly surprising, given his early cover versions.

The title track is a Beach Boys cover. Again, there’s a subtle hint of Stevie Wonder, with Collier using the sound of his breathing to supplement the percussion. The treated, multi-tracked vocal is no match for real harmony singing, but at least there’s a strong, Cullum-esque piano solo to enjoy.

Hideaway was one of the singles from the album, and featured an accompanying multi-tracked video, with Collier seen playing all the instruments. His voice sounds more pleasing on the ear in the higher register he uses here, to my mind, but the constantly shifting arrangements, whilst deft, detract from the tune.

You And I, another Stevie Wonder cover, is probably the highlight of the album. It’s sung a capella, the vocal sounds more soulful and heartfelt, and the arrangement is simpler, with some lovely harmony arrangements.

Down The Line is another kitchen-sink production; there are some nice flourishes – a couple of lovely vocal hooks, another excellent piano solo – his strong point, from an instrumental standpoint – but overall, the track is way too busy for it’s own good.

Now And Then I Think About You is a sound collage, rather than a song, and really serves as an introduction to Saviour, the tune that follows. It’s one of the weaker tunes on the album, however, and when the tunes changes completely around the 4:20 mark, and then changes again and again, it starts to get a little tiring.

Hajanga is much better, with a vaguely African vibe and a strong hook, as is In The Real Early Morning – another highlight - which demonstrates that Collier can sound soulful when he keeps it simple.

Flintstones – another single released a few weeks back – feels out of place here. It’s fun to listen to once, but stripped of the accompanying video, its appeal quickly fades.

There’s enough on show here to demonstrate that Collier has talent to burn, and is going to be a force to be reckoned with, assuming he develops as a songwriter in the years ahead. Too often, however, there’s too much on show, and perhaps it’s no surprise that the two most stripped-back arrangements work best. The same might be said of Collier’s multi-tracked vocals; it’s a cool trick, but it feels overused, and his singing sounds more effective on the few occasions he lets his soul shine through.