Freddie Stevenson: All My Strange Companions

For some reason, I find myself strangly drawn to scruffy looking singers in old timey hats recently, so I guess Freddie Stevenson couldn’t have picked a better time to release All My Strange Companions, the London-based Scottish-American’s second album.

Then again, it’s hard not to sit up and take notice of a record that opens with a couplet like “J.K. Rowling’s been following me around/I’ve even thought of moving to another town.”

There’s nothing wrong with cleverly written rootsy singer-songwriter records, and that’s exactly what Stevenson delivers here. With the help of half of Emmylou Harris‘ band and Prince’s legendary engineer and producer David Z., he’s put together a remarkably self-assured sounding set with this album.

All this, plus he openly confesses to “reading too much Milan Kundera.” What can I say, I’m hooked. Please sir, can I have some more?

Curious? Check out these MP3s:

Here’s a video clip of Stevenson being interviewed at SXSW in March. No tunes, just talk:

Search for songs by Freddie Stevenson on iTunes