Stephen Fretwell. Think a young Manc Bob Dylan, crossed with Ryan Adams, add a sense of humour and you're almost there.

His new album Man on The Roof has garnered praise left, right and centre and this week sees the release of the newest single Now. So we caught up the man himself whilst shopping in his local corner shop and wondering how best to clean out his new pet goldfish Derek and Clive

The album has only been out for a few months but already Fretwell told MTV hes eager to start work on the next:

Its weird that you end up talking about your record to people- but in your head youve moved on to something else, he said. Ive already got about 6 new tunes that Ive been throwing about and I think theyre alright-Id love to do a new album as soon as possible

Man On The Roof is still a bit melancholy like the first album Magpie- but these new ones are slightly more upbeat sort of somewhere in the middle.

And after Magpie gained him notoriety in Manchester Stephen decided to hotfoot it over to New York to record the second- where he met producer Eli Janney. A friend in London thought Fretwell might be lonely in New York and suggested he give Eli a call.

As luck would have it, Janney (Girls Against Boys) was at home- the pair went for a drink, and the rest is history."I liked him instantly, he likes getting wrecked, but he's got some kind of zen whereby he's got two kids, a wife, a lovely home and a good thing going on and he's just not bothered by it all."

Pleasant night aside, easing himself back into the writing wasn't especially easy: "It was hard at first getting back into it, I felt as if all my writing had just dried up, but Eli pushed me through it, he told me straight that I simply to buck your ideas up sunshine.

Well it must have worked as Man On The Roof is a gentle gem.

Stephen Fretwells single Now is out now