The pathways to pop stardom are way-marked to a degree that might make the sincere music fan a tad cynical.

If the only hope for the working-class kid these days is by way of Syco-style TV talent show, for the better-off there is another route that recalls the passport to a Church of England parish for the minor sons of the English middle classes in Jane Austen's era.

The motto of 22-year-old Tom Odell's Sussex public school is "Aim High" and the single-minded Odell has taken it to heart with rejection of his application to music school and a tough time on the open-mike circuit in Brighton failing to dent his self-belief in his own songwriting – in what has become a well-rehearsed tale.

The Chichester lad's move back home was swiftly followed by forays into London where he was "discovered" by Lily Allen, with her A&R hat on, and "launched" on the BBC's Later ... With Jools Holland.

Of the 10 tracks on his debut album, at least half sound like another song you can't quite put your finger on. Already celebrated piano ballads Another Love and Sense are the best of them, and on the title track he sounds very like Paolo Nutini.