Much was made of Jeremey Warmsley’s first outing ‘The Art of Fiction’, and justly so. Warmsley came across as a fresh face with some wonderful melodies and harmonies to share, building layers upon layers to make his highly crafted electronic-pop. If there was a hint of pretension or pomposity at times, it could be given as youthful over eagerness. The success of the record saw him tour with the likes of Regina Spektor, The Shins and Daniel Johnston in the following months. In the meantime his contemporaries such as the Mystery Jets, Laura Marling and Noah and the Whale have gone on to bigger and better things. With ‘How We Became’ Warmsley attempts to follow that path of growth, pulling in Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire/ Bjork) on production duties.Sadly, where once Warmsley’s needy ‘folktronica’ was charming, here it begins to wear thin. Lead track and single ‘Lose My Cool’ struggles with it’s charmless clunking synth and drum lines, and the fact that when Warmsley sings ‘ cool’ during the verses he sounds like Eric Cartman from South Park. The chorus lifts things a little, but still falls short of the slightness of hand and melodic interplay of his previous work.All to frequently on ‘How We Became’ the processed beats comes on like a bargain basement Patrick Wolf. The beats throughout the record just sound cheap and tacky, and Warmsleys voice and lyrics are no match for his fellow londoner. Don’t even get me started on the production horrors of ‘Pressure’, which lyrically at least is an album highlight. In the hands of The Wave Pictures it could be something special, but the treatment given to it here, all bleeping synths and keyboards means it meanders aimlessly to a conclusion with little effect. This is one of the few highlights however, as frequently this maudlin look back at a wasted youth calls to mind Morrissey at his most self pitying lyrically. Imagine a Weezer album made up of songs that all sound like ‘Butterfly’ and you might start to get the idea. Vocally Warmsley struggles at times with his falsetto, particularly on the album’s title track. The Bontempi beats of ‘Waiting Room’ further exposes his vocal frailties, as he occasionally yelps breathily, as if impersonating Beirut or David Byrne. ‘Dancing With The Enemy’ sounds like it could be a future single, with its simple keyboard lines and horn section, but it never really rings true and doesn’t particularly fit with the rest of the album.Having promised so much from his debut album, ‘How We Became’ is an extremely disappointing follow up from the clearly talented Warmsley. 32%Jeremy Warmsley on Myspace