Elly Roberts reviews
Stephen Fretwell: Magpie
Distributed by
Fiction Records
- Released: November 2004
- Rating: 8/10
- Cat.no.: 9868907
After a slow start, Magpie really takes off.
It’s a bit like a bird waking up,spreading its wings, waiting for the right
moment to make its move.
And like all good navigators, it has to be a calculated one. It feels like the
nervous fledgling bracing itself to take a plunge into the unknown. It ruffles
its plumage - and whoosh it’s gone. When it finds its wings and hits the right
thermals - it’s on its way. Sometimes it falls into the slipstream for
reassurance, and when confident enough, it gracefully soars upwards.
The Magpie of course is Scunthorpe’s 23 year old singer-songwriter Stephen
Fretwell’s debut album. Probably appealing to those of you who have a leaning
towards Bob Dylan’s mood and pace. Occassionally,he even sounds like the
folkie legend. Even some harmonica is straight out of Mr.Zimm’s mould: check
Lines and Brother.
The ginger one has a fine line in a gentile approach to song delivery, with lyrics
which are earthy, endearing, but above all tender, on what is a stripped down
and fragile package.
The acoustic balladeer tells stories about lost love (harsh treatment from
women apparently) and the usual gamut of loneliness, tragedy and a strong tad
of bitterness all in the mix. On its way it stutters when Fretwell resorts to
swearing - an unnecessary tactic by Bad Bad Fretwell - but understandable as
the frustration cracks on New York. Emilie is a tragedy, but
Fretwell still loves her, apparently, but there’s no going back.
Resplendent in its achievement, it returns to the nest with a hoard of shiny
goodies it’s stolen on its maiden journey - the crown jewels being the
wonderful final track, If You Go. Misery never sounded so graceful.
Conclusion: slow burner.
The full list of tracks included are (Please note: track 12 has no title - listed as a dash!):
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
