Sir Richard of Hawley – welcome back with your jukebox of many delights.

Release Date: 31st May 2024

Label: BMG

Format: digital / CD / LP (coloured variants)

The famous ‘sound of falling in love’ (thanks Chris Fox/Bleek Noir for that long lasting image) once again comes a knocking at the gates; the drawbridge lowered , portcullis raised and the faithful band of brothers welcomed in with open arms. A new Richard Hawley album is always an event so with the appetite whetted by the Now Then collection and the reworking of Not The Only Road that only went to reinforce the Bleek Noir reference point, In This City They Call You Love (or ITCTCYL) has us at its mercy.

It’s an album with an agenda. “I wanted it to be multi-coloured in a way…” says Sir Richard, ” focusing on the voice and what voices can do together… I deliberately only played a handful of guitar solos to keep it focused on voices, the song and space…” His MO is apparent from the off with a stark and jagged western twang – perhaps an indication of the influences of listening to his collection of singles as showcased on his 28 Little Bangers collection – the emphasis on space in the song, the skill of knowing when not to play.

There may be a debt or two owed to Link Wray, Duane Eddy, the Big ‘O’, maybe even Elbow and a hint of danger and threat – Sixties TV drama, maybe Randall & Hopkirk Deceased or Simon Templar in The Saint – that show up in ITCTCYL. The denser psychedelia of Standing At The Sky’s Edge and lushness of Coles Corner and Truelove’s Gutter raise their heads, Have Love recalling some of the aggression of …Sky’s Edge, less dense but still brooding and verging on swampy blues.

Prism In Jeans and Heavy Rain restore the trademark Hawley lushness, once again becoming seduced “even at the ending of the world, you know I’m always thinking of you girl.”

The album’s title is taken from People, which has been touted as possibly the greatest song Hawley has written about his Sheffield, the city’s proud industrial past and the enduring determination of its citizens. Unlike the sweeping string drenched Coles Corner, it remains a low key presence with the Sheffield locales namechecked and the album title arises. Imagine the pairing of Richard and Shez Sheridan on acoustic guitars in a intimate moment.

Influences get the Hawley treatment on the Elvis pastiche on Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow and the rockabilly jangle Deep Space (excellent buzzsaw of a guitar solo on this one ) that see him crooning in the country style currently favoured by Robert Plant. A reassuring confidence emerges in the intimacy of the latter arrangements and songwriting and finely tuned romanticism that’s a Hawley speciality. Just try not to melt during When The Lights Go Out and I’ll Never Get Over You,

With another legendary Richard (Thompson on Ship To Shore) releasing a classic work, we can turn our back on damp days and wallow in their wonder. An album teased as ‘vintage Hawley’ – very clever, but don’t they know that all Hawley is vintage?

Here’s one of the album highlights – the lush Prism In Jeans.

Richard Hawley online: Official Website / Facebook /X – formelyTwitter / Instagram

Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / X (formerly Twitter) / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube