When the music journalist Will Hodgkinson proposed writing a book on Lawrence, ex-frontman of the post-punk band Felt and latterly of Go-Kart Mozart (recently re-christened Mozart Estate), he was told there would be conditions. Lawrence – who goes by his first name only – said he couldn’t speak to any old bandmates. Furthermore, there could be no anecdotes or use of the word “just”. Asked what is wrong with “just”, Lawrence tells him: “I just don’t like it.”

A simultaneously entertaining and melancholic account of an overlooked musician, Street-Level Superstar depicts the sixtysomething Lawrence as a pallid eccentric who passes his time walking around London, who lives on liquorice and milky tea and is fearful of cheese – “We know that in nature if something smells, it is dangerous to eat.” We learn that Lawrence hasn’t had a girlfriend for years. Reflecting on sex, he says: “I was a two-minute wonder. They’re not missing much.”

Yet there is a reason why Hodgkinson, who is also our narrator, chose to spend time trudging the streets with this oddball figure. It’s because he is convinced of Lawrence’s musical genius – as is Lawrence himself – even if the rest of the world appears immune. And while Hodgkinson can’t resist mining his intractability for laughs, his book is underpinned by empathy and a laudable lack of judgment.

Most music biographies follow familiar trajectories of failure followed by triumph and redemption. But this is a rare tale of a promising career undermined by bad luck, self-sabotage and the fruitless quest for a hit. The audiobook also includes a wonderfully warm Q&A between author and subject, where Lawrence reflects on his fantasy as a youth that he was living in the film of his life.

Available via Nine Eight Books, 10hr 44 min

Further listening

Romantic Comedy
Curtis Sittenfeld, Penguin Audio, 9hr 5min
Sally, a divorced comedy writer practised in skewering celebrities, catches the eye of a pop star who is known for only dating models. Read by Kristen Sieh.

The Dry Season
Melissa Febos, Canongate, 9hr 59min
The Girlhood author reads her memoir in which she swears off relationships and documents a year of sexual abstinence.