Mo Evans

With the success of Sam Smith, there will be a conveyer belt of similar sounding singers over the next year or so as record companies and talent scouts look to ride the wave. But while Mo Evans may have a similar vocal to Smith, it would be unfair to bracket him with the copycats that will emerge. Smith's musical pedigree is too rich for that. The son of Sam Brown and producer Robin Evans (therefore grandson to Joe and Vicki Brown) he has been surrounded by music for his whole life.

Here he makes his first tentative move into establishing himself in his own right. And tentative steps would be the best description of this EP, with its introspective sounding ballads. The title track shows he can write and construct a pop song, opening with a gentle strumming guitar, before his vulnerable vocal builds over an increasingly edgy backdrop. Close My Eyes and the piano ballad You Wanted Love display similar vulnerability, but it is the impressive Can't Come Any Closer that shines, hinting that there is more to come from Evans as he looks to develop his own sound. The timing might just be right, so keep an eye out for Evans in 2015.