James Morrison discovered at last

British singer/songwriter James Morrison.

Don't confuse James Morrison with that other British bloke, James Blunt. For starters, Morrison has more Stevie Wonder in him than Elliot Smith or Rod Stewart. "I love Motown, yeah," he says in his friendly, working-class drawl. "You hear it a lot more in my music than his."

And rather than a background in the Army like Blunt, this 22-year-old grew up poor. Living in Northampton, Morrison and his siblings were making their own dinner and running the house by the time he was 10 because "my mum was too knackered from work".

Now it seems like those financial woes are over. Morrison, who looks like a cross between Chris Martin from Coldplay, with a hint of Blunt and the boyish looks of American musician Beck, is Britain's current star singer/songwriter following the release of his debut album, Undiscovered.

In New Zealand the album debuted in the Top 10 two weeks ago and has sold around 10,000 copies. Morrison was here for a promotional visit this week and presented an award at the Music Awards on Wednesday.

Besides his musical achievements he has also had a brush with Hollywood, being offered a lead role in a movie starring Robin Williams. He turned it down. "That would have confused things. I'm a singer, not an actor. But it's nice to know I got the offer," he laughs.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers got the part, and good on him too, says Morrison.

His tough childhood taught him to be independent and to work for what he wanted, which is why he's been busking and gigging since his early teens.

"Because we didn't have a lot, the most important things in my life were free things, like chatting to people or sitting by the lake. We didn't have any money, we didn't have great food all the time, we didn't have new toys every year, and we had to use our imaginations and be creative."

But there was never a lack of music, including everything from Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder to Van Morrison and Pink Floyd. Morrison first played guitar at 13 and, inspired by these artists, he started writing his own songs in his late teens.

"I knew if I was going to make an impact I needed to start writing my own tunes. I should have started ages ago but I don't think I was ready when I was younger."

His music career took off only when he lost his job washing vans in Derby when he was 19. Within two weeks of being fired he'd been to a record company with his demo tapes, and although it would be two years before Undiscovered appeared, the interest in his songs and his soulful voice was piqued.

Surprisingly there's little about his upbringing on Undiscovered. "I didn't want to go on about it. I give a little bit away but it's not the be all and end all of who I am," he says.

Instead there's songs like One Last Chance and Undiscovered (both about drug addiction), the break-up song Pieces Don't Fit, and a song for his mother called This Boy.

He says when he started writing lyrics he tried to emulate his songwriting idols. "I was writing lyrics that were profound or whatever," he laughs. "But obviously I'm 22 and I'm still learning about life so there's no point in me trying to write songs about how experienced I am.

"So I needed to be more honest and I said, 'Right, just write simple lyrics about what you feel, about things you've been through and things you can relate to, or things that make you laugh'.

"I wanted to make sure people know that the songs are heartfelt and I mean what I'm singing at least. I didn't want to make the album more R&B and soul than it needed to be and come across like a more country version of Justin Timberlake.

"I'm not smooth, I'm clumsy and I don't get things right all the time and I'm not super cool. I just want to let people know that I'm just a guy who's singing some songs."

He is wary of the quick rise to fame and feels sorry for James Blunt, who released a multi-million selling album and now, suddenly, no one likes him.

The biggest change in Morrison's life has been a change in schedule which means he's spending less time with family and friends.

"And the fact that I'm on telly," he laughs. "My life's pretty strange most of the time anyway. It was pretty strange before this kicked off so I'm used to it.

"It's all going towards something I've been wanting to do for some time now so it's a good thing. And I feel like I do deserve it in a way because I've had a hard time. I've worked hard for it, and my heart's in it for all the right reasons, and that's got to be a good reason to do it rather than doing it to be famous or to have loads of money."