aaamusic | On 08, Jun 2011

Stylusboy is the acoustic creation of Steve Jones, a Coventry bred guitarist and vocalist. He cut his teeth playing guitar and bass for a number of bands, and gigging extensively before finally stripping down his sound, and venturing into the wilderness to produce his own personal blend of lo-fi alternative folk. This culminated in the 2009 release of his self produced debut EP – Fingerprint, which, in true DIY fashion, was mostly recorded and mixed in his lounge and a local community centre.

This year marks the return of Stylusboy with the EP Whole Picture, made of six acoustic-alternative-folk tracks.

His music is simple structured with recurring elements, the first one is the acoustic guitar, then choirs by her friend Rachel Grisedale, and jingling bells in the end. These three elements are combined to paint six pictures about feelings.

Whole Pictures and Beyond the Flag smell of the folkest Bruce Springsteen, Left to Hide in writer’s words “talks about forgiveness and moving forward when things go a bit wrong. The chorus describes how sometimes we can’t hide from things and we just have to say sorry, move on and start again at the start of the next new day”. It’s very melancholic and the female backing vocals embellish it with a gentle touch.

Something Worth Keeping keeps the same gloomy mood, making use of piano as well.

Gunfight at the OK Corral is worthy of a western movie, made a bit weird by the sound of jingling bells, while Dave’s Song captures the sensation of loss and grief felt when faced with the death of a friend. It’s an impressive contrast, and shows his quality as a lyricist, definitely the best song of the whole EP.

Author: Roberta Capuano