Pop albums that rely on one or two good singles and are padded out by filler are just the worst. There’s far too many of those around, and you have to dig through a whole lot of average material to get to the good stuff, and Misty Eye definitely is The Good Stuff, good enough to please pop purists, while diverse enough to tempt in the rest of us for a listen. Enough has been said about where Aiden Grimshaw’s [Twitter/Facebook] come from, but it’s more exciting to wonder about where he’s going.

Those X Factor roots deserve a mention, albeit only because Grimshaw’s transcended them. He’s become a proper pop star in his own right, and his debut album ticks a number of different boxes. For one thing, the lad’s got hooks to burn; the well-established Is This Love proved this when it was released a few months ago, and the shimmering introduction to Poacher’s Timing is going to reel in many a listener: the song itself is the sort that is going to test the resolve of repeat buttons up and down the country. It’s far from the album’s token ballad, either; it benefits hugely from the album context.

Its successor is the absolutely huge-sounding Nothing At All, which makes brilliant use of a rave drumbeat and a string section, not to mention an exquisite melody, to establish itself as an album highlight. On the other side is the atmospheric, piano-led Breathe Me, which is one of the more stripped-back songs on the album, but shows that Grimshaw has a good understanding of dynamics and knows when to rein himself in. When he doesn’t, and throws all manner of things into his songs, as he does on current single Curtain Call (placed right at the end of the album – an unusual move in pop, as the more obvious singles are more often than not pushed toward the front of the record), he manages not to be drowned out even once.

A lot of these songs are quite busy, but never sound too cluttered: the cinematic strings and echoing beat that underpin the title track are joined by piano and an earworm of a backing-vocal hook as the song progresses, but Grimshaw rises above it all; that song, in particular, features a powerful vocal performance and an absolute gem of a chorus. I’m calling it: next single. In fairness to him, though, any of the other songs on the record could vie for third-single status, because Misty Eye works both as an album of singles and as a cohesive whole, something that’s very hard to achieve with most pop albums these days. Grimshaw’s rise to prominence has been great to watch, and there’s no doubt in my mind that this album will get the reception it deserves.

Misty Eye is released on Monday via RCA.

[PRE-ORDER] Aiden Grimshaw – Misty Eye [Amazon // iTunes]