Newton Faulkner - 'Octopus' Album Review

Sean Friswell
11 minutes ago
3 min read

Tracklist:

1. Alright Alright Alright (feat. Bloom Twins)

2. What Took You So Long

3. Spirit Meets The Bone

4. Snakes & Ladders

5. Honest To God

6. You Make It Look So Easy

7. Don't Make Me Beg

8. Dear Life

9. Better For Me

10. Gravitational

11. Tic Tac Toe

12. Hunting Season (feat. Lissie & Los Bitchos)

13. Better For You

14. Gratitude

Newton Faulkner is not an artist I’ve spent a lot of time listening to before, I was obviously aware of 'Hand Built By Robots', but I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I started listening to this new album from him.

It starts with two very lively upbeat songs, 'Alright, Alright, Alright' and 'What Took You So Long', both are very different beasts though, 'Alright Alright Alright' has a very indie dance vibe about it with hints of the Beatles at times. It has a driving percussion section and instantly grabbed my attention, features the Bloom Twins to great impact and made me wonder if maybe I should have paid more attention to Newton before now?

Second song 'What Took You So Long' is more of a dance influenced song, with a great chorus and a hook that makes you want to hear more, it has some really interesting time signatures and a feel of something that could be excellent live, it speeds up, slows down and makes you want to dance and sing, so far so good!

Third song 'Spirt Meets The Bone' takes things down in terms of the tempo, a love song that Newton sings with commitment and a real touch of gravel in his voice which makes for a lovely warm song that you can sink into.

What became obvious as I listened to this album is just how diverse it is, it’s a really interesting album with lots of different sounds, lots of different styles.

'Snakes and Ladders' changes the mood again, it feels a bit Arcade Fire meets the Beatles, it was becoming obvious by this stage that Newton has really pushed himself on this album, tried some new things, pushed some boundaries and yet leaned into what I remember Newton for, the warmth of his songs.

'Honest to God' is a really interesting song, clearly its someone who is feeling his own shortcomings, convinced he’s not good enough, that he isn’t what people think he is. It’s a lovely song about the imposter syndrome most people feel and how it can cause you to really question your own worth. Introspection is a theme that feels like it runs through the album.

What surprises me most about this album is how much it fits together as an album, it feels like it shouldn’t work, with so many diverse styles and changes of pace but it absolutely does, often with albums these days it can feel like a vehicle for the singles with some filler, not this album, I haven’t checked which songs have been released and I’m not going to as this is an album, a body of work and deserves to be treated as such.

Newton still remains firmly in the singer songwriter camp but with a clear willingness to experiment, to push himself, to challenge some boundaries, I found this to be a lovely album, if the rest of his work is like then I really need to go explore.

Even if his previous work isn’t the same this album stands on its own, a statement of intent, an artist who feels they still have much to give and is determined to prove it. I really enjoyed it and would recommend giving it a listen, if I have one small gripe it’s that I think where he pushes boundaries, he’s at his best, more of that please.

Although saying that 'Better For You' is lovely, a beautiful piece of writing that feels like a warm embrace. A man who has realised that someone else has impacted them in such a way that they want to be someone better for them, it’s a soulful lovely song that will make a great show closer.

The album is a soulful, funky, gospel inspired, introspective and rock and roll juggernaut, what more do you want? Newton is on tour this month and next in the UK, Ireland and Germany, I think this is going to sound amazing live, well worth going along to hear if you haven’t already got tickets.