Since appearing on Radio 2 last year, 22-year-old Newton Faulkner has been rapidly gathering momentum in recent months.

Having recently signed a deal with music giant Sony BMG, Faulkner was under pressure last night to demonstrate what all the fuss was about, and he did just that.

Apart from his magnificent ginger dreadlocks, Faulkner's most obvious asset was his prodigious mastery of the guitar. He created an impressively full sound on his semi-acoustic guitar with his opening track, To The Light, expertly tapping various parts of the instrument to create a heavy bass beat while picking out chords and creating an eerie sub-melody using harmonics - a feat he replicated with ease throughout the show.

While there could be no doubting his technical skill, other aspects of his music came across as a little underdeveloped. Fans of the singer's quirky charms went wild over the funny, glib lyrics of the blues/country mix of Santa Claus Is Green. To me, it sounded more like the kind of throwaway comedy song you'd hear at the end of a sketch show. UFO, with its predictable melody and juvenile reference to an "anal probe", fell into the same category.

More serious ballads, such as Feels Like Home and strong new single I Need Something, were far more satisfying, showing off his scratchy, bluesy voice to the full and providing a level of melodic polish he would do well to maintain.