aaamusic | On 28, Apr 2011

‘Heartbreakingly beautiful’ – the words that spring to mind when you hear Stuart Warwick sing.

He’s been compared to Thom Yorke and Billy Mackenzie but we’d rather settle on Michael Wright’s (Brassica/Gold Blood) description – ‘delicate, bittersweet and uniquely his own’.

Brighton based Stuart has, under the moniker ‘Jacob’s Stories’, already notched up two albums, various EPs and performed alongside the likes of Bat For Lashes, Beirut, Zola Jesus, and Richard Walters (who duets on the album’s dark fairytale ‘Misplaced Hearts’).

In 2010, after tying the knot with his long-term partner, Stuart decided to take on his ‘married name’ and put the Jacob’s Stories alias to bed. It was during this happy period that Stuart started collecting newspaper clippings, “the usual depressing horror movie stories, and others of breathtaking human courage and determination”. From these stories Stuart fashioned an album of minimal, piano led melancholia, allowing space for his voice to express the songs’ inherent drama and emotion. Topical and challenging, ‘The Ordeal’ address issues such as the Christian ‘anti-gay’ movement (Ex-Gay) Shannon Matthews’ ‘kidnapping’ (I Promise U) and celebrates the success of quadriplegic sailor Hilary Lister (‘Artemis 20’).

Stuart has recently co-written and sung on the Vessel’s single ‘Meatman, Piano Tuner, Prostitute’. Critics have been captivated by Stuart’s voice – ‘ethereal, Thom Yorke-esque vocals’ (BBC music), ‘a commanding vocal performance’ (Subba-Cultcha), ‘…his bleeding swoon possessing the sort of stop-at-five-paces affectation as a Jeff Buckley or Thom Yorke.’ (The Quietus).

A special edition of the album will be released online and to select independent record stores on 27 June 2011.

You can find out more about Stuart at: www.stuartwarwick.com