Newton Faulkner & the Album Chart
HITCitizen Lucho Payne is the perfect UBS employee. He works, he rocks, he works, he writes - right now about Newton Faulkner, who you'll know about soon, if you don't already.
After supporting James Morrison and Paulo Nutini on their sell-out UK tours, Newton Faulkner's debut album, Hand Built By Robots, received much critical praise and took the UK album chart by storm, going straight in at number three.
Newton is a 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Surrey and a graduate of a music academy in Guildford, where he developed a very entertaining and unique percussive style to his acoustic guitar playing.
Recently signed to record label giant Sony BMG, Hand Built By Robots contains seventeen tracks and was released in July 2007.
The overall vibe is very much acoustic-guitar-based in the Jack Johnson, James Morrison arena, a suitable soundtrack to a weekend of surfing in the sun (or maybe just dreaming about it).
Personally I feel that Hand Built By Robots is an album of two halves, with tracks 1 - 7 really delivering, but with things going a little astray after that.
Newton's guitar style is immediately brought to our attention with superb effect after the short 'Intro' leads us into spirit-lifting, catchy 'To The Light': "Take a break from all I know, just sit back and let it flow", is surely about a warm sunny evening with friends on a beach with cold beers in hand. 'I Need Something' has a laid-back feel to it, with a nice expansive sound. A lovely guitar hook drives 'All I Got' with its irresistible cowbell-backed chorus.
Track five, the lively 'Dream Catch Me', is understandably the first single from the album, with a driving rhythm and a strong, catchy, chorus. The pace then slows for the poignant 'Feels Like Home'.
And then comes Newton's version of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop'. This track is jaw-dropping brilliance of the highest order. I'll say no more about it - you really have to hear it for yourself.
But the remaining ten tracks are a bit like a dust-trail following a blazing comet. Perhaps seventeen songs was too much for a first album.
But the first seven tracks on Hand Built By Robots are so good that we'll forgive Newton, hopefully catch him on his UK tour, and wait to see if he can produce more of that quality for his next album.
Newton is a 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Surrey and a graduate of a music academy in Guildford, where he developed a very entertaining and unique percussive style to his acoustic guitar playing.
Recently signed to record label giant Sony BMG, Hand Built By Robots contains seventeen tracks and was released in July 2007.
The overall vibe is very much acoustic-guitar-based in the Jack Johnson, James Morrison arena, a suitable soundtrack to a weekend of surfing in the sun (or maybe just dreaming about it).
Personally I feel that Hand Built By Robots is an album of two halves, with tracks 1 - 7 really delivering, but with things going a little astray after that.
Newton's guitar style is immediately brought to our attention with superb effect after the short 'Intro' leads us into spirit-lifting, catchy 'To The Light': "Take a break from all I know, just sit back and let it flow", is surely about a warm sunny evening with friends on a beach with cold beers in hand. 'I Need Something' has a laid-back feel to it, with a nice expansive sound. A lovely guitar hook drives 'All I Got' with its irresistible cowbell-backed chorus.
Track five, the lively 'Dream Catch Me', is understandably the first single from the album, with a driving rhythm and a strong, catchy, chorus. The pace then slows for the poignant 'Feels Like Home'.
And then comes Newton's version of Massive Attack's 'Teardrop'. This track is jaw-dropping brilliance of the highest order. I'll say no more about it - you really have to hear it for yourself.
But the remaining ten tracks are a bit like a dust-trail following a blazing comet. Perhaps seventeen songs was too much for a first album.
But the first seven tracks on Hand Built By Robots are so good that we'll forgive Newton, hopefully catch him on his UK tour, and wait to see if he can produce more of that quality for his next album.
Here Is The Writer : Lucho Payne
Lucho Payne works at UBS as an IT Consultant, and has spent the last eight years working in banking and investment management in The City. He regularly attends gigs and concerts, and his favourite venues are the Astoria, Borderline and the 100 Club. He occasionally plays guitar at various venues around town as one half of the acoustic duo "Fagan and Payne".
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