Stephen Fretwell - 'Emily' (Fiction)
2/5
By: Kevin Molloy
Our hopes are high - recent press has elicited comparisons with both Buckley junior and Badly Drawn Boy... but then, just 30 seconds into the song, our worst fears are realised: the spangly acoustic guitar starts to make pretty noises over a saccharine rhythm that slides in with all the practiced ease of, oh, let's say a producer sliding up a volume control. This is 'Drops of Jupiter' all over again; that ballad that, despite showing no signs of vitality or interest, lasts the whole summer, and no DJ seems to have the heart to put down.
Whilst the northern accent has an honest, homely feel (more so on the original, acoustic version, thankfully released as a superior B-side), and the falsetto rings with heartfelt sentiment... the lyrics, the last restraint that might draw this song back from the monotonous brink, withdraw their helping hand from a lost cause. On other, better, songs Fretwell might even have been accused of poetry, but here it's just twaddle ('Emily you, just look at you, you're a tragedy').
Sigh. We might just be getting old in the tooth, but we've been here before. This is an ill-chosen single, but to be honest we won't be holding our breath for the next one either. Our expectations have been lowered, Stephen... go on, please prove us wrong.
Artists in this article: Stephen Fretwell
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