This is a review of "Next Year" recorded by Lewis Denby. The review was written by Richard Garnett in 2005.

This is an honest, brave and at times naive collection from the ambitious Mr Denby, an acoustic saunter through 10 tracks of heartfelt angst. The problem facing Lewis is his one-man band approach, requiring his talents to extend beyond simply just songwriting and playing the guitar. As a producer he struggles at times to strike the right balance but there’s been plenty worse than this. The real mountain to be climbed is his vocals. The casual listener is going to struggle to persevere past his nasal and at times flat vocal performance and will most likely miss the melodies on offer. With a guest vocalist to realise his ambition, a less self-important biog and a little trimming on the track list, Denby will prove to be a songwriter with promise.