Stephen Fretwell - Busy Guy (2021)

After an absence of 13 years Stephen fretwell has announced news of his long-awaited third album, busy guy, released via Speedy Wunderground. Described by fretwell as "a song cycle of sorts," The album examines the Seasons Of a life, exploring fatherhood, grief and rebirth, with fretwell's trademark eloquence and wit. Busy guy was produced by fretwell's close friend and Speedy Wunderground label boss, Dan Carey. They recorded the whole thing one Hot July afternoon in just two hours. "I was so fired up, I just rattled off the songs," fretwell says. "I assumed it was the run-through, but Dan said he thought we'd got it." The next day, Carey assembled "a palate of sound" Involving keyboards and an electric guitar. "Dan said, 'I'm just going to react to the songs over the next few hours', and that's the finished record, besides some cello." The album title was also Carey's idea. Fretwell explains: "years ago, Dan asked why I always carried a copy of the Guardian, a notebook and a pen when all I did was go to the pub. I said: if you go to the pub at 11Am with a Newspaper, a notebook and pen, you look like a busy guy rather than a pisshead. It became a joke between us. The joke too is that I didn't do any music for years.".