Newton Faulkner is the flame-haired folk star with the power of positivity, now on his third album ‘Write It On Your Skin’.
He’s appeared on Hollywood soundtracks and re-imagined Massive Attack classics in the five years since he first shot to fame. Now the dreadlocked folk-pop singer Newton Faulkner is back with Write It On Your Skin.
What have you been doing in the past year? I’ve been living in an old dog biscuit factory in East London, writing, recording and gigging. Business as usual. When did you first begin to grow your dreadlocks? Maybe 13. I looked ridiculous for ages. How do you take care of your dreadlocks? There’s loads of stuff you can do – feed it back through the root so it grows into a knot, sleep with a t-shirt on your head because you need to stop it from getting fluffy. What is your lyrical focus for the new material? It’s a very positive album, but it’s not overly positive about the now. I don’t like no-holds-barred positivity, I had to darken it a bit. The way I ended up doing that was basically saying, “I know things aren’t great now, but they are going to get better.” What would you say is the stand-out track for you personally? I really like ‘Longshot’. It’s probably taken more abuse than any other track on the record. I had to keep shifting it because at one point people were saying it made them feel like they were in a Greek restaurant. I had to really persevere with it. There’s something really special in there. Are you in love at the moment? Yes. Two people. But I’m allowed, because one of them’s my son. What do you think is the most perfect love song in the world? I’m Still Here by Tom Waits, from the album Alice, is amazing. It’s about one minute-twenty, it’s one of those really short, really perfect songs.
Text: Rhian Daly
Interview: Milly McMahon
