Claims to fame Will this sympathetic biography of a failed pop star help its enigmatic protagonist find the status his stoicism deserves?

In 2004, the British journalist Chris Heath spent more than a year shadowing Robbie Williams's every movement for his book on the singer, Feel. If this was above and beyond the usual requirements of a biographer, you could see why he thought it might pay off. We tend to be fascinated by success, and the cost that fame can exact upon the individual. And so who better to take such an approach with than both the biggest pop star of his generation and the most self-critical?

- Nick Duerden

The music writer Will Hodgkinson clearly took note, because now he has done something similar, albeit with a singer the vast majority of us will never have heard of: Lawrence. But then navigation of failure is far more interesting than the navigation of success. It's easier to relate to, too.

Like Lulu (and Sting, and Jedward), Lawrence goes by no surname. Back in the 1980s, he had a glimmer of cult appeal with his indie band Felt, and then again a decade later with Denim. But his records never sold, and so Lawrence was forced to retreat into the margins, to count his scars and convince himself that glory really had been his for the taking if only.

Hodgkinson, who has previously written about 1970s novelty pop, elected to spend four seasons trailing Lawrence largely because he's a fan. If Lawrence considers himself a genius, Hodgkinson willingly concurs. But he is also fascinated by what it is that makes an artist an artist, particularly an overlooked one. What kind of mindset is required? How much belligerence? Street-Level Superstar is essentially a pop version of Withnail and I after "I" has gone off to become famous.