8/10

Over the last few years, the singer-songwriter guise has become one filled with contention and rolled-eyes. New artists are looking to break onto the scene with nothing more than a guitar and a sense of poetry in their prose, leaving the whole atmosphere around the genre feeling stale and over-exposed. But then artists like Dan Owen come along and add a much needed shot of adrenaline into the scene, not only standing out from his contemporaries, but also showing that the scene needn't be so drab all the time.

In the build up to this debut album, Owen was already being praised by a diverse array of media outputs, which may say something about his style and preferred audience. Ultimately, 'Stay Awake With Me' is one of those rare albums that attempts to please almost everyone and does a pretty incredible job in the process. Taking the dark and thunderous soul influences of Nathaniel Rateliff and repackaging them for a commercial audience, this debut album is filled with bold and anthemic ideas which present the frontman in a very impressive light.

With a gruff, crooning voice, Dan Owen has that perfect balance between an identifiable personality and competent songwriting. This new full-length may have a very broad appeal, but never feels like it is pandering to the listener, making it one of the few truly great singer-songwriter albums we have heard all year.