The Reason (Lemar album)

Background

Eighteen months after the release of his single, "Tick Tock", Lemar returned in November 2008 with The Reason and its lead single "If She Knew".

The first single, "If She Knew", co-produced by SoulShock and Karlin, combined Lemar's heartfelt lyrics with layers of acoustic guitar. Lemar's signature balladry features on the album too, including the piano-driven "Mayday". He also ventures back to his soul roots with the infectious Over You and the funk-tinged uptempo "Little Miss Heartbreaker", produced by Jim Beanz.

Speaking to the UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul in November 2008, Lemar explained the thinking behind titling his fourth album The Reason: "I called the album The Reason because I wanted it to remind me of the reason why I became a musician in the first place. You know, I think the reason I became a recording artist was because the music I was listening to at the time was inspirational, exciting; it wasn't obvious... And that's what I wanted THIS album to be. I wanted to bring out a collection of songs that for me was inspiring, was thought-provoking, was current, and that hopefully came with an exciting, eclectic mix of styles."

Chart performance

The album entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 41 on the week closing 30 November 2008.

Singles

"If She Knew" was released for download at midnight on 6 November. From two full days of download sales, the single debuted on the UK singles chart at No. 61. The following Monday two physical formats were released additionally and the song climbed to its peak of No. 14. The third week it fell to No. 19 and the fourth to No. 21.

The second single, "Weight of the World", was released on 2 March 2009.

Although it was not released as a single, "Mayday" was included on The Hits album, released on 1 March 2010.

The Reason Tour 2009