Richard Hawley Photo: Steve Gullick
Jim Pinckney regales in Richard Hawley's sophisticated South Yorkshire crooning.
For some reason, Richard Hawley the UK troubadour with a voice and sound that often makes you feel as if the last half century hasn’t happened, has never quite registered as he should in New Zealand. The 48 year old Sheffield singer, who first found success with minor league Britpop act Longpigs, has built an impressive catalogue, kicking off with the scruffy majesty of his solo debut Late Night Final in 2001. While his sound and style is undeniably a reflection of his record collection, and some high grade study of pop and rock classicism, Hawley never lacks for imagination, and with his rich baritone voice, and the melodramatic musical shifts he seems to flick off with abandon, he has never made the same album twice. On Hollow Meadows, written during a period of incapacitation, he brings heart dropping musical moments, on a collection of songs that all about understatement, gestures and nuances, and an appreciation of the little things.
Songs played: Long Time Down , Sometimes I Feel, Which Way, Nothing Like a Friend, The World Looks Down, I Still Want You, Heart of Oak, Welcome the Sun
