Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born January 11, 1985 in Surrey, England) began playing the guitar at the age of 15 and successfully graduated from the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford. His first band was a Green Day cover band where Faulkner played bass. His experience on the stage grew as he formed Half a Guy, a funk rock group that recorded two demo CDs and were very popular in their native town. But after 2 years of local fame the band split. After that he started his solo career under the name of Newton Faulkner and recommended himself as a brilliant acoustic guitar-player and singer. Faulkner became famous all over the UK after the single Dream Catch Me. The musician released several other singles and solo records each containing 4-5 tracks. Some of those songs, like To the Light and I Need Something, were included later into his first full album Hand Built by Robots that saw light on July 30, 2007 and contains all in all 17 tracks. Newton Faulkner received much attention recently and much was expected from this album - especially after the release of his sincere and touching singles. The musician didn’t disappoint the audience.
People Should Smile More can be called the central composition of the Hand Built by Robots. Its message is the sad truth of today’s life, obvious for the first sight and strikingly deep for the second one: smile is a simple and though simply forgotten action. So is the song - plain and pleasant for comprehention at first and hooking by the joyfull tune closer to the end. To the Light should be listened to at least in order to appretiate Faulkner as the acoustic guitar-player - it seems the istrument is the part of his body and serves for the disclosion of all emtional shades. The shortest track The Sitary Thing lasts only a minute but each second of it is for the weight of gold. The charm of Straight Towards the Sun is prodused by the brilliant piano arrangeament. All I Got is full of pleasant harmonies and sensibility, this song fits perfectly to become everyone’s summer melody number one. Feels Like Home has a wonderful vocal delivery - Faulkner can be deservedly proud of his voice. There is no doubt about the fact that the most unexpected track of the whole album is Teardrop. It is a very brave cover for the hit of the legendary trip-hop team Massive Attack. The courageous decision to interprete this famous song with the leading acoustic guitar and minimalistic sound is a real musical experiment, risky but sucessfull. The album is finished by the tender Lullaby. The song is like a decisive but soft and pleasant dot at the end. All tracks are divided by amazingly professional percussions.
Hand Built by Robots is the thing to listen both for professionals and amateurs. The musician is well-known as a skillful guitar-player and percussianist but his play is so natural and charismatic that public is crazy about him at festivals. Faulkner’s lyrics goes from the bottom of his heart and is close to everyone because he speculates on such themes like love, home, hope in plain language. The manner of his singing and playing remind of Jack Johnson and Paolo Nutini and produces the impression of a good-mooded optimistic guy who may be a little too romantic but for sure pleasant to talk to. Maybe so he is. There is something fascinating about his composotions that makes you listen to them again and again, especially if you think that youth is the best part of life. Writing and recording songs that are excellent in perfomance, biographical and interesting to others is a great masterity of a signer-songwriter. Newton Faulkner has this masterity for sure which is especially amazing taking into account his young age.
Odditorium Or Warlords Of MarsOdditorium Or Warlords Of Mars is an expansive rock-n-roll album which could only come from the minds of the Dandy Warhols, and sees the band adding new flavors to their mix of seamless rock hooks, deep psychedelia and a big shot of the country blues