With the status of his pop-rock bands Paige and Young Classics currently up in the air, London’s Arthur Walwin continues to further his career in his current guise as a solo singer-songwriter. He’s become somewhat of a local hero as well, collaborating with such rising stars as Violet and Anavae over the last couple of years. On ‘Sleepless’ though, he’s working for himself and crafting his own sound, one that sees him as one of the most talented and interesting new artists the UK has.

Musically, the album is a fusion of pop, rock and EDM, but done so in an absolutely seamless fashion. There may be debate whether or not it actually fits into the bracket of alternative music, but in truth, it’s worth viewing ‘Sleepless’ as like what a band like Issues does, taking the genre’s core credentials and galvanising them to no end for a sound that is thoroughly modern. By doing this, Walwin has developed the ultimate crossover sound – ‘Seeing Her’ would undoubtedly appeal to both pop fans and those that err towards the lighter end of the rock spectrum, while ‘Bad’ and ‘This Feels Like Summer’ could easily nestle amongst the upper echelons of the charts.

Walwin undeniably has talent, but if there’s a criticism that has to be made, it’s that the sound he’s crafted can occasionally be awfully vanilla, as shown by a couple of cuts in the album’s second half like ‘Chance’ and ‘I Miss You’. Still, the better tunes far outnumber these, and are more than enough to deem ‘Sleepless’ as a success. The years of cutting his teeth have paid off, and this end product puts forward Walwin as one of the best underground pop stars the UK has to offer.

4/5

‘Sleepless’ by Arthur Walwin released on 27th July.

Arthru Walwin links: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp

Words by Luke Nuttall (@nuttall_luke)