This lad is an English solo singer song writer, and with the current revival of the solo singer song writer (Damien Rice, Jack Johnson, David Gray) I think this may be a good time for him. The downside will of course be the endless comparisons drawn when any two men pick up a guitar and write soppy love songs – the name ‘Fretwell’ should however give him the guitar-playing edge. His set started and ended with some solo acoustic numbers, but it was interrupted by the appearance of a band for the middle section. This did of course inject a bit of substance to his tunes, but lost a lot of the intricate interplay between guitar and voice that is clearly his strength. Alone he sounded quite special and unique; with sad and melodic songs that you could tell he’d practised a thousand times in isolation. Stephen and his band were more like a run of the mill indie outfit. Perhaps I’m being unfair, but when I glanced around he had the audience transfixed once more for his final two numbers, ‘Emily’ the big hit so far, and ‘New York’ the new single. I think it’s no surprise that his single releases are him and him alone, and they are strong songs that he delivers superbly – I’m sure they’ll feature in love song request shows on regional radio forever.
, Kings College London Union, 27th September 2005
Words By: Mark Lees
