FOLKING.COM REVIEW, 18th August 2006 "Sleeping at the Station" is Sheffield-based Charlie Barker's debut album. Charlie has already been a semi-finalist at the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards and, at the age of just 20, her debut album immediately reveals Charlie to be a mature and assured performer and writer, suggesting at huge promise for the future. I was immediately seduced by Charlie's beguiling voice, which is showcased to dazzling effect on a number of tracks where Charlie is accompanied solely by her own guitar, and sings her own exquisite harmonies. Charlie's voice is possessed with a depth and sensitivity that takes you straight to the heart of even the most subtle emotions in all she sings. One of five tracks on the album composed by Charlie, "Poppies," is an absolutely stunning song and provides the highlight of the album for me, and a fine testimony to the superb quality of Charlie's writing. Influenced by Charlie's own Grandfather, who was a soldier in World War 2, and her own childhood experiences selling poppies for Remembrance Day, the song provides a stark reminder of what Remembrance Day is all about, by sharing a story told very much from a family perspective. "Ten thousand poppies, I'll remember you this way." Since Eva Cassidy covered Sting's "Fields of Gold," many inferior, karaoke-like copies have emerged. I am pleased to say that Charlie's cover exceeds all expectations, bringing a whole new layer of warmth and tenderness that even Cassidy would struggle to match. Because Mary Black has also recorded this song, it pains me to say this, but Charlie's sublime rendition is by far my favourite. Sorry Mary! "Sleeping At The Station" includes a fine cover of Nanci Griffith's "Outbound Plane," on which Charlie turns in a confident, measured performance. The Jay Turner (of duo Mundy-Turner) song "Naked" receives a most beautiful treatment courtesy of Charlie's heavenly harmonies and leaves you teetering on the edge of tears, being a most insightful song into the intimacy of a tender relationship. A number of Charlie's own efforts, notably "Not The Way" and "New Horizons," hint at wider success beyond the folk genre, and could easily lead Charlie to benefit from the kind of mainstream popularity that other roots-influenced artistes such as KT Tunstall are currently enjoying. "So I'm just a two bit singer, just a ten a penny girl," Charlie sings on another of her own songs "Not The Way." She most certainly isn't. I can assure you. - Mike Wilson, Folking.com