Newton Faulkner
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born 11 January 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and musician from
Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
. He is known for his percussive style of guitar playing. In 2007 Faulkner's debut studio album ''
Hand Built by Robots ''Hand Built by Robots'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner. Produced by Mike Spencer, it was released on 30 July 2007 on Ugly Truth Records. Preceded by the single " Dream Catch Me", the album initially chart ...
'' was certified double platinum in the United Kingdom. The album topped the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
in August 2007. It was promoted by three singles, "
Dream Catch Me "Dream Catch Me" is a song written by Crispin Hunt, Newton Faulkner, and Gordon Mills, produced by Mike Spencer and performed by Faulkner. In Europe, it was the third single to be released from his 2007 debut album, ''Hand Built by Robots'', whil ...
", "
I Need Something "I Need Something" is a song written and performed by Newton Faulkner. It was the first single to be released from his debut album ''Hand Built by Robots ''Hand Built by Robots'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Newto ...
" and " Teardrop". "Dream Catch Me" reached number seven on the
UK Singles Charts The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Faulkner's second studio album, ''
Rebuilt by Humans ''Rebuilt by Humans'' is the second album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born 11 January 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. He is known for his percussive st ...
'', was released in 2009 and charted at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart. After an accident to his right wrist, he said that he had "been put back together again by humans". An EP titled ''Sketches'' was released in April 2012, followed by a third studio album '' Write It On Your Skin'', which was released in July 2012 and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Faulkner's fourth album, ''
Studio Zoo ''Studio Zoo'' is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner, and the first album he has produced himself. Its recording, which took place in June and July 2013 at Faulkner's home, was streamed live online. The album was ...
'', was released in 2013 and reached number ten on the chart; the recording of the album was displayed through a
live stream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...
. His fifth studio album, ''
Human Love ''Human Love'' is the fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner. It was released on 20 November 2015 through BMG. Promotion The album was promoted by a cover of Major Lazer's song "Get Free", which was released as the le ...
'', was released in November 2015; Faulkner removed his
dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair. Origins Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe' ...
during the creation of the album to re-invent his appearance. In 2016, Faulkner was cast as Johnny in the musical '' American Idiot'', which is based on songs from the band
Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
. He played the role on the UK Tour, and continued in the role when the show returned to the West End at the
Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberl ...
in July 2016. This was followed by the release of his sixth album, ''Hit the Ground Running'', in 2017. In November and December 2018, Faulkner starred as the ''Sung Thoughts of the Journalist'' in the 40th anniversary musical version of Jeff Wayne's ''War of the Worlds''. On 10 December 2018, Faulkner announced through social media channels the forthcoming release of ''The Very Best of Newton Faulkner...So Far'', featuring 31 songs: selected songs from his six studio albums, three new tracks, and recordings of "all the covers I play live, from '
Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...
' to ’Send Me On My Way' and a track I promised myself I'd never record!" A new Christmas-themed track called "Wake Up" was previewed on his website to promote the album. Faulkner later released his seventh album, ''The Interference (Of Light)'' in 2021. The album was recorded in isolation during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and through a live stream, similar to ''
Studio Zoo ''Studio Zoo'' is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner, and the first album he has produced himself. Its recording, which took place in June and July 2013 at Faulkner's home, was streamed live online. The album was ...
''.


Early life

Faulkner is the second child of Sally and Keith Faulkner. He has an older brother, Toby Faulkner and a younger sister, Charlotte (Lottie) Faulkner. Faulkner attended the Hawthorns School in
Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with medieval buildings and is mostly on a wide escarpment of the Gr ...
, Surrey. He began playing guitar at the age of 13 (after a few attempts at the
drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
and
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
) and attended the
Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play ''Where the Rainbow Ends''. For ...
. He grew his trademark red
dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair. Origins Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe' ...
at age 15. He then moved on to the Academy of Contemporary Music in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
in 2002, where he spent two years gaining both diploma and the higher diploma award under the tutelage of
Eric Roche Eric Roche (4 December 1967 – 6 September 2005) was an Irish fingerstyle guitarist. Biography Roche was born in New York City, after which his family moved to Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. He was an accountant, but practised only for a shor ...
, amongst others. His first band was a
Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
cover band, in which he played bass guitar. His experience on the stage grew as he formed 'Half A Guy', a funk rock group, with bandmates Matt Buchanan (credited in Newton's ''Hand Built by Robots'' tab book), Dave Elvy and Nicola Crawshaw. 'Half A Guy' recorded two demo CDs and lasted two years before splitting. He then spent time recording and playing gigs under the name Newton Battenberg Faulkner, including the Lapagestock festival on 11 June 2005.


Music career


''Hand Built by Robots'' (2005–2008)

In 2005, he made a song for the game 'TrackMania Sunrise' called ''Take Back''. Faulkner made appearances in 2006 on
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
and he secured a Publishing deal with Peermusic UK who asked the ''
Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' to tell its readers to "watch this face". Faulkner performed at the 2006
South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
music festival and a
Guilfest
2007. He subsequently signed with
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
records and in July 2007 he released his début album ''
Hand Built By Robots ''Hand Built by Robots'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner. Produced by Mike Spencer, it was released on 30 July 2007 on Ugly Truth Records. Preceded by the single " Dream Catch Me", the album initially chart ...
''. He supported James Morrison on his February UK tour,
Paolo Nutini Paolo Giovanni Nutini (born 9 January 1987) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley. Nutini's debut album, ''These Streets'' (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Its follow-up, ''Sunny ...
on his UK tour in April, and
John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
on his September dates in the UK. He also supported
The John Butler Trio The John Butler Trio are an Australian roots/rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on vo ...
on a number of European dates. In 2007, Faulkner's debut studio album ''
Hand Built by Robots ''Hand Built by Robots'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner. Produced by Mike Spencer, it was released on 30 July 2007 on Ugly Truth Records. Preceded by the single " Dream Catch Me", the album initially chart ...
'' was certified double platinum in the United Kingdom. ''
Hand Built By Robots ''Hand Built by Robots'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner. Produced by Mike Spencer, it was released on 30 July 2007 on Ugly Truth Records. Preceded by the single " Dream Catch Me", the album initially chart ...
'' made No.1 in the UK Album Chart in August 2007. He released three singles from the album, "
Dream Catch Me "Dream Catch Me" is a song written by Crispin Hunt, Newton Faulkner, and Gordon Mills, produced by Mike Spencer and performed by Faulkner. In Europe, it was the third single to be released from his 2007 debut album, ''Hand Built by Robots'', whil ...
", "
I Need Something "I Need Something" is a song written and performed by Newton Faulkner. It was the first single to be released from his debut album ''Hand Built by Robots ''Hand Built by Robots'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Newto ...
" and "Teardrop". "
Dream Catch Me "Dream Catch Me" is a song written by Crispin Hunt, Newton Faulkner, and Gordon Mills, produced by Mike Spencer and performed by Faulkner. In Europe, it was the third single to be released from his 2007 debut album, ''Hand Built by Robots'', whil ...
" was selected
Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...
's ''Pet Sound'' on her daily
Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...
show and made No.7 on the UK Singles Charts. This gave the track exposure and was highly commented on by listeners to Jo's show by SMS and e-mail. On 29 July, "Dream Catch Me" reached No. 7 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. His fourth single from the album, a cover of
Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...
's " Teardrop", was released in December 2007. A new video for "
I Need Something "I Need Something" is a song written and performed by Newton Faulkner. It was the first single to be released from his debut album ''Hand Built by Robots ''Hand Built by Robots'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Newto ...
" was released in March along with a United States version of the video for "
Dream Catch Me "Dream Catch Me" is a song written by Crispin Hunt, Newton Faulkner, and Gordon Mills, produced by Mike Spencer and performed by Faulkner. In Europe, it was the third single to be released from his 2007 debut album, ''Hand Built by Robots'', whil ...
". Faulkner has performed at several major UK summer music festivals. In 2007 and 2008 he played at
Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
, V Festival,
Connect Music Festival The Connect Music Festival was a music festival that took place in the grounds of Inveraray Castle, located on the banks of Loch Fyne in Argyll, Scotland. It was aimed at more mature music fans and recent headliners included the Beastie Boys, B ...
2007, at
Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...
2008,
Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
2008 in Grant Park
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
Oxegen Oxegen was a music festival in Ireland, first held from 2004–2011 as a rock and pop festival and again in 2013 with dance and chart acts only. The event was regularly cited as Ireland's biggest music festival, and, by 2009, it was being ci ...
in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and at the Isle of Wight Festival 2008.


''Rebuilt by Humans'' (2009–2011)

Faulkner released his second studio album, ''
Rebuilt by Humans ''Rebuilt by Humans'' is the second album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born 11 January 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. He is known for his percussive st ...
'', in 2009, which made No.3
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
. On a video blog streamed live from Newton Faulkner's website on 22 June 2009, he stated that the new album would be called ''Rebuilt By Humans''. The reason for this was that in December 2008, Faulkner slipped on some ice and badly injured his wrist, into which doctors fitted a metal plate. He then said that effectively, he had "been put back together again by humans". The first single from the album was "If This Is It", with the video exclusively shown on Channel 4 and released in September 2009. In 2009 Faulkner played at
Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
Festival, Cois Fharraige in the Republic of Ireland, and at the
Crossing Border Festival Crossing Border Festival is an annual festival in The Hague, Netherlands focusing on new pop music acts and literature. It is one of the largest combined music and literature festivals in Europe. The first edition took place in 1993, as a larger ...
in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, which was his last performance for the ''Rebuilt By Humans'' launch tour. In 2010, "Dream Catch Me" was featured in the US film, ''
She's Out of My League ''She's Out of My League'' is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Jim Field Smith and written by Sean Anders and John Morris. It stars Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve, and was produced by Jimmy Miller and David Householter for Paramoun ...
''. In early 2010, Faulkner featured on the
Hamish and Andy Hamish & Andy are an Australian comedy duo formed in 2003 by Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. Best known for their various drive time radio programmes on the Hit Network, which aired in multiple formats until 2017, their shows gained consistently ...
radio show in Australia, playing "I Hate Mondays" and this song charted at No.1 on the Australian Apple
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
. Faulkner again performed at several UK festivals -
Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
2010,
Oxegen Oxegen was a music festival in Ireland, first held from 2004–2011 as a rock and pop festival and again in 2013 with dance and chart acts only. The event was regularly cited as Ireland's biggest music festival, and, by 2009, it was being ci ...
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...
2010 in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
,
Latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
Festival 2010, and the Beautiful Days music festival in Devon. In October 2010, he played a surprise set at the ACM Awards show at Indig02 at the
O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decem ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and in November 2010, he appeared at the 'Christmas Lights switch-on' in
Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
. Faulkner took part in the 2010-2011
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
New Year's Hogmanay Celebration. In 2011 he played at "Movistar Summer Experience" in Pinamar,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in February and at the 'Beach Break Live' in Wales. Faulkner headlined the 'Avebury Rocks Charity Concert' in July 2011 and this event raised money for a Cancer Charity the
Love Hope Strength Love Hope Strength Foundation is a charitable foundation whose purpose is to raise funds and awareness in order to benefit people with cancer and leukaemia. The charity sponsors treks and climbs to the world's highest mountains, often performing mus ...
Foundation. In July 2011 he played at the
Cambridge Folk Festival The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival, established in 1965, held on the site of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is known for its eclectic mix of ...
. In 2011 Faulkner performed at the Bath Forum as a part of the 'International Guitar Foundation'. In 2011, a portrait of Faulkner painted by British artist Joe Simpson was exhibited around the UK including a solo exhibition at
The Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...
. Also in 2011, his track "Over and Out" was covered by the Irish vocal pop group
Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...
and was included in the band's second major compilation album and twelfth major overall album ''
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
''.


''Sketches'' and ''Write It on Your Skin'' (2012–2013)

An EP named ''Sketches'' was released on 17 April 2012 and contained three new tracks. It was taken off iTunes on 21 April 2012, and was updated and re-released on 21 May 2012. At several shows on his 2012 tour, Faulkner announced that his third studio album would be titled '' Write It on Your Skin'', and a track called "Clouds" would be the album's first single. In June 2012, "Clouds" received
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
airplay. ''Write It on Your Skin'' was released on 9 July 2012 and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. Faulkner performed two live gigs at Edinburgh's The Edge Festival in August 2012 with
Reverieme Louise Connell (previously Reverieme) is a Scottish indie pop act from Airdrie, founded in 2005 by vocalist and guitarist Louise Connell. In 2011, Reverieme performed at T in the Park, Wickerman and Edinburgh's The Edge Festival, receiving a ...
. In September he played at Weyfest. In the Autumn of 2012, Newton and his brother Toby co-wrote several tracks with
Janet Devlin Janet Maureen Aoife Devlin (born 12 November 1994) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, who competed in the eighth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2011, where she finished in fifth place. Devlin's debut album was released in October 2012 via ...
for her upcoming debut album. In 2012, Faulkner played a UK wide tour for his album ''Write It On Your Skin'', and in 2013 he toured Australia.


''Studio Zoo'' (2013–2014)

The recording of Faulkner's fourth album ''
Studio Zoo ''Studio Zoo'' is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner, and the first album he has produced himself. Its recording, which took place in June and July 2013 at Faulkner's home, was streamed live online. The album was ...
'' was being streamed live online,
24/7 In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usually pronounced "twenty ...
for five weeks from 11 June 2013, with regular updates on the social networks. His home studio in East London was set up with four cameras, to follow every detail of recording the album..
I am as excited as I am terrified by the prospect of having a house full of cameras film me while trying to record an album. The entire recording process will be streamed live and nothing has been recorded in advance - apart from some particularly good hand claps recorded in Paris. The album will be made before your very eyes, no tricks, no producer and no engineer, just me, a guitar and a few surprise guests.
On 16 June 2013 Faulkner played the main stage at the
Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...
2013 with live streaming as part of the Studio Zoo project. He played "Dream Catch Me", "I Need Something", "Brick by Brick", "Orange Skies" and a cover of
Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's "
Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...
", among others. The album ''Studio Zoo'' was released on 26 August 2013. It debuted at no. 10 at UK Albums Chart, becoming Faulkner's fourth top 10 studio album.


''Human Love'' (2015)

On 15 September 2015, it was announced that Faulkner's fifth studio album, ''
Human Love ''Human Love'' is the fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner. It was released on 20 November 2015 through BMG. Promotion The album was promoted by a cover of Major Lazer's song "Get Free", which was released as the le ...
'', would be released on 20 November 2015. A music video for the album's lead single, a cover of
Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after t ...
's song "
Get Free Get Free may refer to: * "Get Free" (The Vines song), 2002 * "Get Free" (Major Lazer song), 2013 * "Get Free" (Lana Del Rey song), 2017 * "Get Free", a 2011 song by Scream from '' Complete Control Recording Sessions'' See also * "Freedom Dan ...
", was released the same day and featured a live take of Newton cutting off the long dreadlocks that had been a part of his instantly recognisable image since his teens. A second single, "Up Up and Away", was subsequently released and accompanied by a video featuring choreographed dance routines performed while Newton jogged along a river bank.


''Hit the Ground Running'' (2017)

Newton's sixth studio album was released on 1 September 2017. While this built on the intricate guitar and percussive guitar work that was a feature of his previous albums, it marked a conscious focus from Newton to push his vocal range to the limits with a strong emphasis also on rhythm, most noticeably on the first, eponymous, single which featured some very high notes and also on another blues-tinged track "Finger Tip", which was released as the third single and the follow up to "All She Needs". As this recording marked the 10th anniversary of Newton's debut album ''Hand Built by Robots'', Hit The Ground Running featured several deliberate references to that record; the opening track "Smoked Ice Cream" (a track that he had played live for years that had no title until a suggestion was shouted out from a crowd at a gig) featured a slowly picked melody building into a rhythmic instrumental played on a single acoustic guitar before the vocals kick in, in a similar way to the instrumental "Intro", which builds on and then segues into "To the Light" at the start of his debut album. The placement of the only instrumental track "Guitar-y Thing" in the middle of ''Hit the Ground Running'' is also a nod to "Sitar-Y-Thing", which was an instrumental giving a similar mood to split ''Hand Built by Robots'' into two halves. Shortly before the release of Hit The Ground Running, Newton recorded an acoustic version of the full ''Hand Built by Robots'' album as a free gift for his fans, putting it out on YouTube as a video album featuring a newly recorded video of him playing each song in a different setting in and around his house with each song seguing into the next in the same way and in the same order as the original record.


Discography

*''
Hand Built by Robots ''Hand Built by Robots'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner. Produced by Mike Spencer, it was released on 30 July 2007 on Ugly Truth Records. Preceded by the single " Dream Catch Me", the album initially chart ...
'' (2007) *''
Rebuilt by Humans ''Rebuilt by Humans'' is the second album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner (born 11 January 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. He is known for his percussive st ...
'' (2009) *'' Write It on Your Skin'' (2012) *''
Studio Zoo ''Studio Zoo'' is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner, and the first album he has produced himself. Its recording, which took place in June and July 2013 at Faulkner's home, was streamed live online. The album was ...
'' (2013) *''
Human Love ''Human Love'' is the fifth studio album by British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner. It was released on 20 November 2015 through BMG. Promotion The album was promoted by a cover of Major Lazer's song "Get Free", which was released as the le ...
'' (2015) *''Hit the Ground Running'' (2017) *''Interference (Of Light)'' (2021)


Filmography

* 2010: ''Relentless Boardmasters'' (TV-series) * 2011: ''You Instead'' * 2018: ''Terminal''


References


External links

* *
Video of Newton's performance at the 2010 ACM Awards.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, Newton 1985 births Living people English male singers English rock guitarists English male guitarists English songwriters People from Reigate 21st-century English singers 21st-century British guitarists Musicians from Surrey 21st-century British male singers British male songwriters English folk guitarists English pop guitarists