Rupert Stroud - Chasing The Night [Album Review]

It's not often we come across a new singer-songwriter type who really, actively re-affirms our expectations of the genre and raises the calibre of the 'up and comer' to new levels. But Leeds chap Rupert Stroud is all about reaffirming the best parts of British songwriting for his own designs. With a voice and tracks that recall Richard Ascroft or pre-fame Coldplay, Stroud's album is a dark, smoky realm of lushly produced acoustic confidence. Where others of his ilk might be content to consume themselves in hazy, insubstantial ditties of whimsical affection, Stroud's record plays with real bulk and presence to it. You don't just hear these songs, but feel them too - the whole thing is brilliantly consistent for a debut too and marks Stroud out as a real talent to watch for the future. If anything, one can breath a sigh of relief that here at least, the art of the songwriter still beats with real life-giving intensity.

Download: Heard It All Before / Chasing The Night / Waiting For Me To Break

Chasing The Night is released on the 21st May.

Rupert Stroud - Chasing The Night

Amongst the broad oeuvre of bloke and his guitar songwriter types, the UK is crying out for someone with a bit more substance. Forget your Ed Sheerans and James Morrisons, where are the real forces of musical dynamism that once called legions of fans to their cause in the midst of the Britpop glory days – those chaps with a bit more substance to them?

Well, Leeds lad Rupert Stroud feels like a resolute move back in the right direction. There’s airs of a Noel Gallagher or Richard Ashcroft to his world-worn vocals and the menace-tinged edge that characterise the title track single to new album Chasing The Night. Stroud’s songwriting is neatly compact, sleekly efficient but with a rousing heart to it that recalls Coldplay in their darker, more low-slung moments.

Just like the brooding, noir-like video that accompanies Chasing The Night, Rupert Stroud’s music breathes professionalism and the air of a consummate talent. This is one night that we’ll certainly keep chasing...

Chasing The Night is released on the 21^st May.