Chris Flew: Press

Chris Flew is a gifted soul responsible for music of heart-aching loveliness. With the ghost of Elliott Smith hovering sadly by his shoulder, 'Corporate Love Song' - dedicated to Smith - should elevate this boy blue to the giddy heights of alt.folk heavyweights such as Ryan Adams and Wilco, whose singer - Jeff Tweedy - Flew recently glimpsed, somewhat incongruously, in Borders bokshop in Glasgow.

"I was totally star-struck," he chuckles. "I just couldn't think of anything to say and anyway, he's been having all these migraines recently, so I didn't want to bother him."

Evidently in thrall to the great American angels, Flew will be trekking to the US later this year, where he plans to write material for his next album.

"It's just for the escape," he explains, although he hopes that some desert magic will cast its spell upon him.

"I'm definitely attracted to the romance of the place and, while there's loads of negative things about it,especially politically, I'm fascinated by the cities that never sleep. I'm a night person, so it's ideal."

We've backed Snow Patrol and Franz Ferdinand, and now here's our latest tip for the top - Chris Flew. The Scot is producing beautiful tunes like 'The Truth About Cats + Dogs' from his album 'Corporate Love Song'.

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Chris Flew knows that songwriting in the folk tradition is part of Scotland's legacy. Updating this for the 21st century is a popular, if tricky, task as open-mic nights around our cities will testify. Standing out from the crowd can only be achieved by pure dint of outstanding tunesmithery and Chris Flew has tunes in abundance - evocative, his delicate melodies at times underpinning wrought lyrics, but almost always with an upbeat side. With two self-released albums already, he could well reach the heights.