Newton Faulkner’s new album ‘Octopus’
Words: Rhys Reviews
★★★★☆
The new album, Octopus from Newton Faulkner, opens with the lively and highly catchy track ‘Alright Alright Alright’ that instantly grabs the listener by the ears and doesn’t let go until the song is finished. This is a song that literally begs to be performed live as the listener can easily imagine the audience singing and dancing along to this full-bodied song. I for one, really hope that this number is a part of the upcoming show on October 15th at Tramshed, Cardiff, as I imagine the audience will go feral as the iconic electric guitar motif echoes through the speakers!
What is insanely clever about this song is the fact that despite the moments of high energy delivery there are frequent sections where the accompaniment strips back so the listeners to purely focus on the amazing vocals of Newton himself. This repeating pattern ensures that the audience does not get overwhelmed by constant, intense musicality but still maintains a sense of excitement when the song builds back up. This track also contains an appearance by the incredible Bloom twins from Ukraine who help to inject a degree of softness to the number with their incredible vocals that blend wonderfully together.
The second track in this album is an almost total contrast to the intense opening, high-energy song that focuses on a romantic reunion of two ex-lovers. The song “What Took You So Long” is a much more optimistic and joyous track that opens with an ornate guitar solo that tells the story of two lovers who have finally found their way back to each other. As the song builds the narrator appears to be singing towards their romantic interest with a blend of both acknowledging their longing-ness over time but also gratitude that they are finally together.
One of the most poignant lyrics that demonstrates this idea of a journey back to romance is “teenagers don’t know what they don’t know” which clearly shows that the couple initially met while young and now that time has passed they have entered a more mature and accurate view of the world and want to pursue the romance they once had again. I can easily see this upbeat track being used in various dating style programmes where a potential couple eventually admit their love for each other leading to a heartwarming moment that the audience will thoroughly enjoy.
This brand new album from Newton Faulkner then begins stripping down to focus on a much more emotionally raw vibe. Following the narrative laid out during “What Took You So Long”, “Spirit Meets the Bone” highlights how the narrator doesn’t want to just love his reunited lover but wants to be totally overwhelmed with their affection. Instead of simply feeling love eternally the voice wants to feel it deep inside his body as he sings “I want to meet you down, where the spirit meets the bone” which is a very powerful sentiment to share with someone.
Despite this deeply moving message behind the song, the song begins with a very calming and relaxing tone which contrasts and works perfectly. What is very clever about this song is that it builds to reflect the build up and eventual eruption of emotion which is a realistic journey of a relationship from peaceful to over-whelming love which Newton managed to capture flawlessly through the transition from a soft to intense tone in their voice with both parts being a treat for the ears throughout and work wonderfully when side by side in this number.
My favourite track in this album however would have to be the song “Dear Life” which also strips back on the musicality so that the audience can purely focus on Newton’s beautiful vocals. Written at Buddy Holly’s songwriting retreat in America, this song marks a temporary return to how Newton established his music career as it highlights the temporality of things in our lives.
On one level this song could be interpreted as a portrayal of the crumbling of relationships. For me, this song was particularly powerful as it talks about the fact that despite everything the narrator has gone through he will continue for those close/departing from him. The line that most clearly demonstrates this is the lyric “I’ll be your Superman, it’s just the way I am” which is an experience that most people will go through during their life as they continue to support someone even though this transaction is extremely one-sided. This song could also be considered as a very pessimistic view of fame and celebrity status. It has been recorded that the entire album is a direct response to Newton’s newfound fame and this song in particular shows how fragile he believes this status is. One of the lyrics that captured this is the line “nothing lasts forever my mother told me so” which could be a reference to how quickly the ideas of fame can disappear.
One of my favourite things about the song “Better For Me” is the fact that in the opening moments of the song, it teases that the song will build which instantly grabs the listener’s attention. The song itself outlines a moment in the aforementioned relationship where the narrator notices that something is not quite right and decides that it would be better for them to focus on themselves. Obviously, looking after yourself and your mental health is extremely important so seeing this message shared within this song is fantastic. This is only exaggerated by the fact that it is a male voice talking about taking time out which is not something society sees frequently.
Both the purposefully simplistic structure and repetitive nature alongside the insanely catchy musical motifs throughout make this number easy to pick up and in fact, even listening to the song on my own through headphones, I found myself singing along even after the first listen. I can easily imagine hordes of people singing at the top of their voices when performed live and this is another track I hope is performed at their show at Tramshed on October 15th. This song cleverly has a sort of reprise later in the album where the lyrics are focused from an almost selfish view to a more compassionate view of the world.
This is wonderfully portrayed by the lyric “you make me want to be a better man” which shows the singer is now considering how their actions affect other people. Having a song later in the album that references an earlier track helps maintain the audience’s attention and creates an almost full-circle narrative.
As an English teacher, there is nothing I love more than a purposeful and well-used metaphor, which I believe adds an extra layer of intrigue to the number. The song “Gravitational” talks about how two people feel drawn/pulled together similar to how, scientifically speaking, we are pulled down to the earth via gravity. While this song does contain a sense of strong language making it only suitable for a more mature audience, it also contains a much more electric and upbeat feel than the other songs on this album. This song instantly makes the listeners want to get up and dance (which I also imagine would go down perfectly performed live) and this helps keep the audience’s attention especially if they have been binge listening to the album in its entirety.
The album is brought to a close by the haltingly beautiful “Gratitude” which is an entirely acapella acappella-style song that brings the entire album to the perfect end. As their is no accompaniment to this number it forces the listeners to purely focus on the collection of incredible vocals in display , especially in the opening moments of the song , which is an absolute treat for the ears. It has been recorded that this style of music is the genre that Newton has become famous for and it is easy to see why as he has absolutely nailed this style creating a very beautiful end to an album known for him exploring different experiences but still being able to integrate what he does best!
Overall, Newton and his team have created an album that not only showcases his iconic talents he has become synonymous but also showcased a different side of the performer. The variety of music ensured this album keep the audience not only entertained but excited about what will come next.
Tickets for his upcoming UK tour are available HERE