Hand Built By Robots - Newton Faulkner

I might as well admit from the beginning that I'm predisposed to dislike Newton Faulkner. As if the comparisons to Jack Johnson weren't bad enough, young Newton replies to them by saying that he'd rather be compared to him than someone like Girls Aloud.

Well quite frankly Newton, I would suspect that Girls Aloud wouldn't want to be compared to an album as "pleasant" and insipid as yours. A two word review would be as follows; pleasantly dull.

That's not to dismiss Newton completely. Whilst the comparisons to Jack Johnson are fair musically Faulkner seems a lot more likable than his surfer inspired forerunner and, from my point of view, nowhere near as earnestly annoying. But for all the technically accomplished playing that's on show, there's an alarming black hole where the soul should be.

If you were mad about single Dream Catch Me then I dare say that you'll enjoy this album to a certain degree. Me? Well I'm not sure I'll be listening to this very often in the future, other than as background music next time I go to a Chinese restaurant.