Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Mark Stoney is a 24- year-old multi-instrumentalist from Sheffield, with the talent, the looks and the songs to become a big star. His debut release, Constantly Running, was single of the week at the iTunes music store, scoring 17,000 downloads in Britain in just one week his new single ‘Soap in a Bathtub’, and forthcoming debut album confirm Stoney as a songwriter to keen a beady eye on. The echoes in his music of the Small Faces, Gilbert O’Sullivan, solo McCartney and Hunky Dory Bowie share space with an up-to-date musical eccentricity and elasticity that calls to mind Beck, Super Fury Animals and Ed Harcourt. In other words, weird enough to be hip, commercial enough to be huge.
- Sunday Times, UK
The new single 'Soap in a Bathtub' is rather a fine attempt of Beck doing an Athlete cover! - The Fly, UK
Other unsigned highlights from this year's (Glastonbury) festival include Stoney, who were recently awarded iTunes single
of the week after racking
up 17,000 downloads. - The Guardian, UK
Stoney are a truly great band with truly great songs. Mark Stoney is a frontman to the core & this really is a band in fighting shape
- Sandman Magazine, UK
Good Lord they're wonderful! ....a blinder of a band! - Playlouder.com
One of my favourite new artists...I stood gobsmacked while they played... - Tom Robinson, BBC 6 Music
Soap in a Bathtub is a glorious single. With a great chorus in the Beach Boys and Beatles vein, but coupled with a heavy guitar riff and some squelchy electronica and basslines that prove Stoney’s thinking outside the usual singer/songwriter box, but without losing the song in gimmickry.
The b-sides are bluesy and ballady respectively and show the range of Stoney’s songwriting skill. This is great single by an artist with all the potential in the world.
- Sandman Magazine, UK
What a find! All hail Stoney!
One of the most refreshing pieces of music I’ve heard in a really long time. Soap in a Bathtub is dirty, quirky and witty but then a little bit soft around the edges.
With an incredible melody that you’ll almost certainly think you’ve heard before because it’s so good, Soap in a Bathtub has sleaze written all over it but then smacks you right on the arse and turns all emotional and a bit Badly Drawn Boy.
Who could believe this guy does everything…EVERYTHING... on his tracks apart from the drums. I think we can let him off a few drumsticks if this is the outcome. With amazing guitar riffs and beautifully arranged vocal sections, Soap in a Bathtub is a fantastic follow up to ‘Constantly Running’.
More where that came from please!
10/10
- Contact Music
The song is gorgeous, full to the brim with whacking bursts of sound, a barrage of big sweaty guitars and fairly heavy drums that all dissolves into a sweetly melodic chorus. This man can write songs, and the B-sides back this statement entirely. 'Bring Your Cup' is very strong and reeks of dedicated musicianship and 'Where You Are' really brings the biscuit home, it's pure magic in four minutes. A dreamy little acoustic piece with a lovely cello backing, a real subtle joy.
Mark Stoney, playing all the instruments (bar the drums) himself on his recordings, proves completely with this sexy little single that he's got what it takes to bash out some killer tunes that easily kick the saggy ass of some of the rubbish that's filling today's sagging scene. A welcome single from a man that can.
- Room Thirteen
Discography
'Soap in a Bathtub' - June 2005 (single)
Radio support includes: BBC 6 Music 'Single of the Week', BBC Radio 2 Dermot O'Leary 'New Favorite Tune', XFM Playlist.
Constantly Running - July 2004 (single)
itunes 'single of the week' worldwide, and received nearly 17,000 downloads in the UK in just 1 week.
Radio support includes: BBC Radio 1, BBC 6 Music, XFM
Amber - 2001 (EP)
Radio support includes: BBC Radio 1, XFM Playlist
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Sifting through the reviews of Stoneys music over recent months, two things seem to stand out. One is the overwhelming acclaim bestowed upon the music of the 24 year old from those who have discovered it. The other is the diversity of artistic comparisons drawn by writers trying their best to accurately categorize it.
Most are valid, but none are completely definitive, as the music of Stoney has never been easy to define. Multi-faceted and highly eclectic, but always outstanding, its just distinctly Stoney.
Mark Stoney writes, records, produces & plays nearly all the instruments on his records himself and his extraordinary talent first came to light in 2001, when barely out of his teens, he tentatively handed a few copies of his debut album Amber to his local record shop in Sheffield, UK. A homegrown and highly eclectic collection of songs recorded in his basement, word quickly spread about the record and Amber received a rapturous reception in the steel city, winning much acclaim for its highly inventive & quirky style.
With the overwhelming response to Amber, Mark set about forming a band to take the music to the live stage. A few months later in early 2002, their first two gigs, both headlining slots at the Sheffield Barfly a fortnight apart, were sold out. It wasnt long before the ears of a few well connected individuals had pricked and with management secured and top promoters and producers keen to work with Stoney, the limited edition Amber ep - comprising of 3 songs taken from the album - was released nationally in December 2002 on the tiny Thunderbird label. The haunting lead track How can I ask you again? received widespread regional & national radio play including Radio1, and stayed on the Xfm playlist for over 10 weeks.
After a long period of writing and rehearsing, a problematic major label deal, and more sell-out shows both in Sheffield and London, another single was released on the small but perfectly formed Transistor label. Constantly Running, a growling song of frustration & loss clashing with steely determination, seemed to sum up the proceeding period perfectly. Despite an instant playlisting on Xfm, it turned out to be somewhat of a grower as a record and it wasnt until the first week of 2005, when Mark had already returned to the drawing board, and re-emerged simply as Stoney that Constantly Running made Single of the Week, worldwide, on the iTunes Music Store. In its first week, it received nearly 17,000 downloads in the UK alone with thousands more throughout Europe!
Stoneys latest release shows that he has drawn in from all this experience and emerged truly refined and lyrically brilliant while still retaining the originality, wit and quirkiness that has always made him stand out from the rest.
Much excitement surrounds the outstanding follow up single Soap in a Bathtub, which has received massive support from across the board at UK radio (BBC Radio 2, XFM, BBC 6 Music), and rave reviews from both The Sunday Times and The Guardian. The long awaited release of the album is on the horizon...as is Stoney's rise to the top!
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