Ellington

So you've probably heard "You're Beautiful," James Blunt's smash hit--a song that became so popular, so fast, that it has already inspired a clever (if slightly mean) Weird Al parody. There's no denying the vocal power of this guy, and the only strike against the song, for me, is the overall weirdness of the lyrics--which makes more sense if you hear it as a character study rather than a serious love song, a song that captures the way men think rather than the way men should think.

The remarkable thing about Blunt is not that he has a conventional and widely marketable voice, because he doesn't--and this would become clear if he were singing bubblegum pop. What he has instead is the talent Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and Rod Stewart all have had: To recognize the idiosyncrasies of his voice and write songs around those idiosyncrasies, songs that turn what could be a liability--the nasal, high-pitched tone his voice takes--and make an asset out of it instead, using it as an instrument to achieve the desired effect. So far, it seems to be working.