one4review | On 14, Jul 2025

West London born, now calling Glasgow home, Quiet Man (AKA Charlie) just played his gig first in Edinburgh—and without sounding dramatic, shut up shop, I’ve already seen the best new artist of the year.
Sneaky Pete’s is usually a sweatbox full of noise, pints, and yelling over the music. Tonight, total reset. Bare stage. No lighting tricks. Just him and a tiny Yamaha Reface CP—bought, as he tells us, for £35 from “Jean in Kilmarnock.”

Opening with The Bitterness, it’s obvious, this is special. The lo-fi setup doesn’t hold him back—it draws you in. The vocals aren’t flashy, they are honest, controlled, and quietly devastating.

Oversensitive follows, giving early Paul Simon with Nick Mulvey textures—melancholic and introspective.
Ruin It melts like warm honey—simple lyrics, falsetto that floats instead of forcing itself, and suddenly you realise: no one is speaking. Even the bar staff have stopped pouring. The guy next to me whispered it was the quietest he’d ever heard a crowd out of sheer respect.

Bear Trap is a standout. Breathless and vulnerable. When he sings “I’m trying to be a man” , wrestling with masculinity It’s raw. It’s real. It hits hard. Then comes Muddy, maybe the night’s strongest track. A full-bodied, emotionally mature piece about therapy and self-work, delivered with soft keys and vocals.

Pieces lets that voice rise again, striking the balance between personal experiences. And Pretty Tough wraps the set in the perfect amount of emotional wreckage.

His stripped-back, soul-deep songs proved you don’t need gimmicks to make people listen—you just have to mean it. There’s something in that voice you can’t train. It’s pure, crystalline feeling. Most artists paint a picture but he colours it in and builds you a safe little place to feel something.

Tonight was a statement. There’s a new sheriff in town, and he’s armed with a £35 keyboard and more emotional nuance than most of the current music industry.

*****
Reviewed by Steve H
Sneaky Pete’s Edinburgh
18 April 2025