Newton Faulkner

Catapulted to fame in 2007 with his platinum debut album ‘Hand Built by Robots’, featuring the hit single ‘Dream Catch Me’, and pioneered by the likes of Jo Whiley for some time before this, Newton Faulkner is currently in the midst of his sell-out UK tour, which sees him perform for one night only at venues across the country. Immediately recognisable by his wild dreadlocks and distinctive ‘tapping’ guitar technique, Newton Faulkner is a word-of-mouth success story with a reputation to live up to, and it was with some anticipation that I went along to the Corn Exchange for the Cambridge performance.

At times, in fact for most of the evening, it was hard to believe that the 22 year-old singer-songwriter was alone on the stage, joined only at times by two band members: his hand-made guitar echoed with the sound of harmonising notes and haunting drum beats, whilst his voice rose over the top to create the illusion of a four or five piece band. It was a breathtaking master class in acoustic guitar performance, and one that out-shone even his album. There’s an obvious passion and energy that goes into his performance: Newton took the time to introduce each song with humour and excitement, making the evening more entertaining and adding a new appreciation to his lyrics.  

Tutored by Eric Roche, Newton Faulkner’s style seems to be unique. Each song welcomed a different guitar: either different in shape, or tuned to a different level; and each one stood up to the pounding that sees his hands beat the body of the guitar as well as prod and pluck the strings at the same time. Whilst watching Newton Faulkner, you’re not only transfixed by his incredible voice, but also by the sheer impossibility and skill in what he’s doing. His confidence is echoed in the fact that, for his latest single, he chose to cover Massive Attack’s mighty ‘Teardrop’, and when he got to this song, the audience was transfixed and the venue full of sound.

The set was unsurprisingly full of now-familiar songs taken from his number one album, which the audience obviously relished – singing along when asked to, and raising their palms in unison to the chorus of ‘UFO’. It was, however, punctuated by unfamiliar tunes – those which had failed to make the album, those which had only just been written, and those which were for that night only and will never be released: not least Newton Faulkner’s rendition of ‘Spongebob’. Alone on the stage for the final song, a self-assured, astonishing performance of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ concluded the dazzling two-hour performance.

I’d recommend you buy the album, but it doesn’t do justice to the live event. Newton Faulkner will be performing at the Isle of Wight Festival on June 15th, but if you can’t wait until then, buy a ticket and follow him down under to Australia where he’ll be touring in March: it’ll be well worth the flight.

Review by Lizzy Wood