After a chart topping highly acclaimed first album Hand Built By Robots, and a less impressive less inspired second album Rebuilt By Humans, Newton Faulkner returns to the airwaves with his third studio album Write It On Your Skin, and in my opinion it is by far his best effort yet. For those who haven't listened to Faulkner before, he is a bit of a one man band who sings with a distinctive crooning voice and backs its up with some very complex guitar melodies. For the studio albums he has all the instrumental backing for his songs, but when you see him live he performs the whole song by himself, even providing a bit of a drum track by tapping his fingernails on the body of his guitar.
Each track here has been put together with an impressive amount of skill, and the album as a whole is one of the best I have listened to this year. Every song pulls its weight, every song contributes something to the over theme of the album which I interpret as "be happy and do your best". That said, there are some songs in here that are clearly a cut above the rest, with Pulling Teeth, Soon, Clouds, and Write It On Your Skin my personal favourites.
Fun, joyful, easy listening, catchy riffs, inspired song writing, excellent vocals and amazing guitar skills - these are hallmarks of this album. You can just sense that Faulkner is a happy guy who is in a really good place with his life right now. I cant help but to smile when I listen to these songs. With all the anger, angst and sex fuelled songs currently populating the airwaves, it's refreshing to listen to this upbeat music whose only message is one of positivity. Go listen to his music right now and have a nice day :)
Review by Ryan Lawler
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