Tom Baxter: 'Tell Her Today'

Since releasing 'Better' at the end of last year, Tom Baxter has probably stopped worrying about his utility bills. Its soppy balladry was so perfectly-crafted for Mothers Day' compilations and British rom-com montage sequences that he's doubtless about to be swamped by royalty cheques. However, despite this success, it looks as though Baxter has little to offer the music world other than vapid, Damien Rice-lite crooning.

New single 'Tell Her Today' follows the same predictable formula of its predecessor – right down the rather vacuous lyrical content ("It's hard to say you love someone, it's hard to say you don't"). Baxter delivers his lines with a dry, passionless coo that suggests he has little emotional connection with the song, coming across like a male version of Katie Melua. The track ends with a truly bizarre flamenco crescendo that sounds like the theme tune to Sex and the City; this might be mildly amusing if it weren't dealt with in such a cold, uber-serious manner. 'Tell Her Today' is dire, plodding Radio 2 fodder, but, worse than all that, you get the feeling Baxter doesn't really care.