The last year has been a big one for British newcomer Jack Garratt. After winning awards such as the BBC’s ‘Introducing Artist of the Year’ and ‘Critics Choice’ at the BRITS, he took home the BBC’s coveted ‘Sound of 2016’ – an indicator of hype if ever there was one. Just ask previous winners Ellie Goulding, Haim, Sam Smith and Years & Years. But all this acclaim has left Garratt’s debut album with high standards to live up to. Fortunately, ‘Phase’ has more than enough going on within to deliver the goods.

With a mixture of genres, Garratt showcases the diversity in his style, but also his talents. He employs his multifaceted voice – suited to everything from soul and blues to electronic music –to his advantage to blend genres. Sometimes this blending leads into a Disclosure-type sound, with Fire standing out, as well as My House Is Your Home, a simple song with just a piano and Garratt’s soothing vocals and lyrics. Worry meanwhile stirs a measure of blues into the electronic mix.

Garratt is credited for all of the songwriting (with three songs being co-written) on ‘Phase’, and pretty much all of the instrumentals, mixing and production – this really is his work of art. Which goes some way to explain the diversity on display across the album. This is Garrett showing off the different sides of his musical personality. Often, if an album jumps too much from one sound to another, there’s a certain amount of disharmony that leads to a lack of identity. With ‘Phase’, Garratt does the opposite, and successfully manages to put his stamp on an album of seamlessly flowing variation.

That being said, it’s hard not to draw similarities between him and other artists. Much of what goes into the mix are elements of Disclosure, Bon Iver, Ed Sheeran, to the point that these individual elements seem unoriginal. There is definitely a sense that much of the music collected on this album has been done before, but maybe not by a single artist – which is what ensures that ‘Phase’ stays interesting. Accused of being generic and manufactured has pretty much just become a trope of being mainstream successful, so when Garrett is accused of such – it’s not exactly surprising. It’s just a little bit undeserving.

‘Phase’ is an impressive collection of Garratt’s works to date, showcasing the diversity of sound he has to offer. Not only that, but it serves as justification of the success the 24-year-old has already achieved. His music may have a wide appeal simply because of the wide range of genres it draws from, but Garett also possesses the air of an authentic songwriter, who just happens to be making music for the masses.