Ned Roberts
Album: Red Sun
Label: Ungawa
Tracks: 4
Website: http://soundcloud.com/nedroberts

London based, but having learnt his craft on the streets of York, singer songwriter, Ned Roberts has got his debut album due out later in the year, in the meantime the first single, "Red Sun" is starting to make its presence felt.

I'll describe "Red Sun" as a single, although it comes with two 'bonus' tracks so you could argue that it's really an ep. The opening track is a lament of the distance between the focus of the song and the singer. It's a simple refrain, just voice accompanied by delicately picked guitar. A song that makes good use of silence and repeated phrases.

Roberts possesses one of those voices that whilst it may not be one of the best that you'll hear in terms of tonal quality, more than makes up for that by being full of character. There were times when the delivery reminded me a bit of Christy Moore, but again the difference in accent ensures the comparisons aren't too close.

The majority of "Red Sun" is just guitar and voice, but "Bound To Fall" features some really sensitive fiddle, whilst the closing track, "Old Folk Song" achieves a similar poignancy with some beautifully delivered harmonica. "Red Song" is a sensitive and delicate ep, that captures a real sensitivity between singer and song.

Neil King