Album Review: Newton Faulkner – Octopus

I first heard of Newton Faulkner through his debut album track Dream Catch Me, a song that showcased both distinctive percussive guitars and warm, melodic song writing.  Fast forward to today, and it seems Newton has continued to blend folk, pop, and acoustic styles across a series of well-loved albums. Octopus, released via Cooking Vinyl marks his return after a four year gap from his previous, and seventh album, Interference (Of Light), in a collection of tracks which aim to not only highlight his trademark musicianship, but also push into new creative territories.  So, let’s quit wasting time and head on in….

Kicking off with Alright Alright Alright (a track featuring Bloom Twins) which has a kind of Hives meets Strokes vibe in this rocking up tempo distorted number, which not only really works,. but is also nothing like I was expecting.  What Took You So Long next, which is a nice, upbeat poppy track with fantastic audial soundscaping, whilst it slows right down for the soulful Spirit Meets The Bone. Snakes & Ladders felt a bit too much like an Arcade Fire tribute track for me (though I did enjoy the breaks that were present, whereas Honest To God built beautifully throughout the track, from moody to almost a bass driven folk, into a full folky rock track – loved it! You Make It Look So Easy returned to the early soulful sound, but this time layered with lashings of baseline funk, whilst the plucky Don’t Make Me Beg starts minimally, peaks late in the track, in a crescendo of expertly blended vocals and instrumental acoustics.

We head to a beautifully slowed down acoustic track in Dear Life, which blends well with Better For Me which starts a little subdued, but evolves into a mad, almost pop track, the genre of which continues into  Gravitational, but is a far superior song (I actually love this). Tic Tac Toe sees a return of the funky vibes, but with a hint of Pharrell about it, whereas Hunting Season (which features Lissie & Los Bitchos) could easily be from Peter Gabriel’s back catalogue. Penultimate track Better For You is a fantastic analogue soulful ballad, and we round off with Gratitude – which is a clear ‘finale’ low key track, which brings my thoughts to the very beginning (pre-track kicking in) of the Talking Heads classic, Road to Nowhere in its vocal harmony.

I was both surprised and not surprised by Octopus – There was seldom on here that reminded me of the only track I’d heard of Newton prior to this, but it didn’t matter, such was the quality of what I heard. He’s clearly a talented musician who has somewhat slipped between the cracks of the wider recognition. It’s close to having the full album added to my exclusive album downloaded list… at the least there will be a few additions to my 2025 favourite tracks.

Graeme R