Stoney first appeared on the UK music scene following the release of his debut inventive and homegrown-style album Amber in 2001. A quirky collection of songs written in his teens, and recorded in his Sheffield basement following his escape from his hometown of Croydon, it was independently distributed initially through a few local record shops on his own Holy Moly label. Stoney played all the instruments on the record. In response to the positive public reaction, a full band was formed to take the songs to the stage, and a three track EP of songs from the album, enitled Amber EP, was released nationally the next year gaining Stoney his first national radio airplay.
Stoney signed to Island Records in 2003, teaming up with producers Kevin Bacon and Jon Quarmby (Longpigs, Richard Hawley, Sugarbabes, Finlay Quaye) to record an album. During this time, Stoney and his band performed under the name of Stoneylacuna, to reflect the change from the singer-songwriter feel ofAmber to the bigger, full band sound of the new recordings. However, political wrangles ensued and Stoney parted company with the label the following year without a record being released.
A few months later, the limited edition single Constantly Running was released nationally on the small Transistor label. Despite positive reviews and some significant champions on UK radio, momentum had been lost and Stoneylacuna parted company.
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