Stephen Fretwell is set to release his new album Man On The Roof on September 10th. Recorded in New York with producer Eli Janney, these 14 songs are the follow-up to Fretwell’s Gold-selling debut of 2004, Magpie. The album is preceded by a single on 3rd September - the up-beat and optimistic Scar.Stephen Fretwell, was born in Scunthorpe in 1981, a fact that belies the maturity and worldliness of his song-writing. These days, he's mostly resident in Manchester, but he liked New York so much he decided to make his second album there. Man On The Roof, will surprise people. It's not as melancholy as Magpie, but it is just as beguiling. This means the lugubrious sway of Coney; the romantic The Ground Beneath Your Feet, "about redemption, about being saved by a woman"; while Funny Hat and William Shatner's Dog are both about the same person. Sleep and Coney concern adultery in body and mind respectively, while the couples in Bumper Cars and Darlin' Don't struggle to get past whatever first base is, but as Fretwell himself says, "it's pretty coded"...
While finishing the album earlier this year, Fretwell found time to play a handful of sold-out solo acoustic shows in February followed by a further series of shows in May which featured contributions by Jonny Lexus and Eli Janney, and released Four Letter Words a limited edition 5 or 4 song EP (10 and CD formats respectively) of tracks taken from the album recording sessions.
Stephen is confirmed for the following festivals: 17th Aug Edinburgh, T on The Fringe Liquid Room, time tbc 18th Aug Stafford, V Festival Union Arena 4th from opening 19th Aug Chelmsford, V Festival Union Arena 4th from opening 30th Aug London, The Hospital on stage 8pm 31st Aug Argyll, Connect Festival, Scotland Guitars & Other Machines stage 3.45pm 1st Sep Electric Picnic, Ireland Trends Lab Stage 4pm
He has also announced details of a full UK tour: 11th Sep London, Luminaire 9th Oct Cardiff Point 10th Oct Birmingham Barfly 11th Oct Brighton Digital 13th Oct Oxford Zodiac 14th Oct Bristol Thelka 15th Oct London Codogan Hall 16th Oct Nottingham Rescue Rooms 18th Oct Liverpool Barfly Theatre 19th Oct Sheffield Leadmill 20th Oct Manchester Academy 2 22nd Oct Glasgow Classic Grand 23rd Oct Newcastle Northumbria Uni Stage 2 24th Oct Leeds Irish Centre