Life After Emily - Stephen Fretwell

Whatever anyone may say about style, image and attitude; it’s the songs that make or break bands. Cocaine addictions and celebrity partners have brought both stardom and failure to artists, (however much we would like to convince Mr Doherty that it will only bring the latter) but it will be those albums, singles that will determine their acclaim.

However, as much as any artist would like to champion their trade as the reason for their success, there are times when those very songs come to haunt them. Like some Frankenstein experiment, debut singles that in their innocent beauty formed a band’s faithful following, start to linger and fester in the form of chanting crowds and radio plays, to become the very obstacle to greater glory.  Seemingly the only way to cure this cruel vice is to kill off the very song that started it all, Radiohead did it with ‘Creep’, Beck did it to some extent with ‘Loser’ and undoubtedly Gnarls Barkley may crucify their musical stalwart ‘Crazy’ in the years to come.

Thus when Gigwise gets the chance to meet up with Stephen Fretwell on the eve of a hometown show in Manchester, debuting material from new album ‘Man on the Roof’, it comes as a surprise that his crowning single ‘Emily’, released back in 2005, might go the same way.  Emily was responsible for pushing Stephen into “another world” of commercial success but yet he insists: “Tonight I’m going to lay ‘Emily’ to rest, a home town crowd, I’m gonna say look thanks for sticking by me, I would like you to help me lay this song to rest.” 

Though any scepticism on Gigwise’s part that Mr Fretwell’s words were an idle threat, were quickly written off like the aforementioned song that evening. He is truly a man of his word and half-way through his set at the Manchester Dancehouse; he explains that tonight would be the last time he would be playing the song. His declaration is greeted with a muddled response, the crowd mixed in their emotions knowing that Emily was coming up next but that this maybe the last time they hear it live. Stephen leaves little time for romantic contemplation and launches into the song, played with an open sense of longing and emotion that he is so famed for.
 
The fact is Stephen Fretwell’s debut album Magpie was more than an album of filler with that one standout track. No doubt Emily, with its enchanting hooks and uplifting chorus, was destined for radio playlists and crowd sing-alongs, but many people saw it as merely one song among an album of delicate melodic splendour and fresh song-writing.

That Fretwell is more than a one-trick-pony in a one-horse-town was indeed confirmed tonight. Most of the set revolves around his recently released EP, ‘Four Letter Words’ and his forthcoming album, ‘Man On the Roof’ set to be released in August. The new material is still in keeping with the often minimalist approach to Fretwell’s songwriting, doing away with grandiose soundscapes and orchestration to allow the fragile but altogether powerful melodies to do the talking. This is affirmed by the fact that for large parts of the show, it is simply Fretwell and his guitar, a lonely prospect for some, but one Stephen seems to feel most comfortable with.

The new songs do offer a picture of a less strum-happy Fretwell; songs are composed more tenderly with melodic interplay between Stephen’s vocals and the guitar. He was eager to confirm to Gigwise before the show that the new album was not as folky as the first.

“If anything I was trying to make a pop album but pop that I like, in the true sense of the word, good music.” Whether Fretwell will be able to free himself entirely from the acoustic, folky ties is not evident from his show at the Dancehouse, though neither the crowd now Gigwise were complaining. It will be upon listening to the new album, which has seen him combine with a new band and record in a new location, when we will be able to truly gauge whether Fretwell’s folky heritage has been discarded.