From being Busted to becoming a 'Young Pilgrim'.

Charlie entered the music industry as a member of the 3-piece boy band 'Busted'.  Loved by 12 year old girls, and mostly hated by boys.  He was remembered for his thick heavy eyebrows (but he was always my favourite!).

As a 12 year old girl it is safe to say I was completely in love with Charlie "from Busted", and had multiple heart palpitations when I went to see them live at Newcastle Metro Arena in 2003... Yes most of their songs were cheesy and stereotypically targetted towards my age group, but looking back at some of their songs (such as 'Why' from their album 'A Present For Everyone'), you can tell Charlie was the one with the voice.

No wonder Charlie went on to form the band Fightstar, which had a distinctly different sound to Busted and infact his solo work.  Take the song 'Mercury Summer' by Fightstar for example, which was a song that I thought was actually quite catchy.  However it incorporated Charlie's rock-edge, almost as if he wanted to completely break away from his pop music connotations that Busted associated him with.

On August 15th 2011 Charlie was back in the music scene once more, and this time he was solo with his debut album 'Young Pilgrim'.  Even I was a bit doubtful at how successful his music would be... Nonetheless I bought the album and set off in my car one summer's day to see if it was worth the purchase.

Well, what a fool I was to doubt him.  The album from start to finished is crammed with folky vibes and light-hearted soul.  All the songs have a beautiful melody to them, with just the right energy combined with summery highlights to make the whole album a delight to listen to.

My favourites from 'Young Pilgrim' will probably have to be 'Thorns' & his single 'Cemetery'.  If you are like me and don't expect much from an ex-boy band member, I suggest you listen to these!  Beautiful lyrics that you can listen to any time of day; they never fail to make me happy.

Lastly his forthcoming single is called 'Farmer & His Gun',  I stumbled across this song on the album and as it is track 10 it was one that I knew but didn't pay much attention to.  However, when I heard it come on the radio the other day I realised what a fantastic song it actually is.  Complimented throughout by a classic harmonica, this song is relaxed with simple clear vocals that help to convey the story.  I can't help but to sing along to this song! Give it a listen.

A 5* rating by Lauren-Eloise.