SINCE taking the music world by storm two years ago, Jamie Cullum has managed to impress yet again with his second album.

Catching Tales is not the let-down risked by a follow-up offering, but builds on the success of his debut Twentysomething.

The opening track, Get Your Way, sets the tone for a memorable album, mixing Cullum's laidback style with a funky backbeat.

As usual, the lyrics in every song tell a tale - some cheerful, some melancholy, including the wistful I Only Have Eyes For You and London Skies, and some just fairly fun and flippant, shown perfectly in the slightly bitter Nothing I Do.

Cullum has obviously not lost his joy for making music, with instrumental breaks ranging from soaring saxophone solos, to cascading piano passages, showing off both his own talent and that of his fellow musicians.

If anyone ever accused him of being a sell-out, think again. Jamie Cullum has merely mixed the old with the new, and has probably rekindled, if not helped discover, a love of jazz in a great number of people.

ECB