Newton Faulkner’s take on acoustic singer/songwriter fare is soulful and smart, with hit originals such as the heartfelt “Dream Catch Me” and covers such as a solemn take on Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” illuminating his appealing, earnest approach. The Surrey-born Faulkner started playing guitar as a late-’90s teenager and cut his teeth playing in a Green Day cover band before launching a solo career. His 2007 debut album, Hand Built By Robots, topped the charts, as did 2012’s Write It On Your Skin. In 2016, Faulkner started dabbling in musicals, including nodding to his punk roots by portraying Johnny in American Idiot, while continuing his own original music career. Following a 2019 greatest-hits album that featured studio takes on favoured live covers (including Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”), he released a new album in 2021, Interference (Of Light), recorded during the pandemic lockdown.