Matt Terry

Winning The X Factor was once touted as a golden ticket to a recording career. While the show definitely raises an artist's profile, it has time and again proven that it is not necessarily a sure fire route to chart success. With more of the winners having fallen at the first hurdle than achieving international acclaim, Matt Terry must be feeling slightly daunted as he releases his debut album Trouble. The collection follows his #3 charting Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge penned debut single When Christmas Comes Around, a featured role in the #1 charting Artists For Grenfell release and of course the inescapable #10 charting Enrique Iglesias and Sean collaboration Súbeme La Radio. Not a bad first year as a recording artist, but will Trouble solidify his place as a chart star?

In truth it is impossible to tell. There are lot of pros for Matt Terry. Not only has he helped pen all of the album's tracks apart the aforementioned Enrique collaboration, but he has also ensured that he has followed the current radio trend for Latino tinged sounds. Having already revealed his Spanish connections, and his convincing Spanish accent, the move does not feel false and instead simply allows him to position himself in a clever place for international marketing.

And the cons? Well, the album feels a little bit like you have heard it before. Perhaps the Latino feel is as much a con and it is a pro. Yes, it fits the current soundscape but in a marketplace so swarming with Latino beats, Matt needed to deliver something a little bit more unique to really make his mark.

The trouble with Trouble is that although it delivers dance floor anthems and intimate ballads that move the heart and hips, they struggle to compete against Luis Fonsi, Juanes and Enrique Iglesias who really know how to use a diversity in their sound the maximise their appeal.

All that being said, this is easily the strongest debut album by an X Factor winner a good number of years. It may not tick all the boxes, but with radio friendly cuts Sucker For You, Rewriting History and Mama all begging for attention, he may just be on the right track to be an international icon as opposed to another X Factor nearly was.