"IT HASN'T GOT A TUNE. I CAN'T TELL WHAT HE'S SAYING"
...as my Grandfather used to say. This week saw the annual Brit Awards (does anyone take it seriously?). It seems to be little more than an excuse for crowd-pulling, student-pleasing "acts" (in reality - little more than PR machines) to have a good night out. And their music is, frankly, a steaming pile of shite. The Kaiser Chiefs? Do me a favour. James Blunt's "Your Beautiful", as a newspaper columnist pointed out, is now like the flu, or weather. Who else is there? I've done a mental edit, can't even remember.
Step forward Richard Hawkins of Sheffield who writes and plays music for grown ups. Here are some reviews of Coles Corner and Low Edges, (although I'd recommend starting with the Coming Home single).
'Music is full of callow young men desperately seeking to make musc on an epic scale: here's how to do it'
Mojo
"Music to make jaws drop"
Mojo
“Richly orchestrated torch song in the style of Scott Walker from one of this country's most distinctive singer-songwriters. Smooth and velvety.” 4/5
The Sun
"...the most brazenly emotional and heart warming pop album made by a Briton this side of the millennium...no hint of post-modern irony here: this is music with it's heart on it's sleeve..."
Daily Telegraph
"Intimate tales packaged for universal appeal"
Q
'If he remains overlooked after a record this heartfelt then, well, perhaps there really isn't a God after all' 4/5
Q
"...like mid 70's Walker Brothers produced by Phil Spector...his songs are an unabashed cry from the heart - in their swoonsome company, you'll find it hard not to surrender yours..."
Mojo
"...it firmly pitches Hawley as one of the most distinctive of contemporary British singers, already a contender for one of the albums of 2003..."
NME
"...another masterstroke of timeless torch & twang...it confirms Hawley as a balladeer of the highest order, if he moved in next door (to you), your lawn might cry..."
Q
"...a haunting air of regret hangs over each country-tinged waltz, as jaded love battles with eternal hope in the quest for love...the shy simplicity and devastating finality are pure Hawley & Hawley alone..."
The Guardian
"...really lifts you from the humdrum of average 2003 indie rock...beautiful, easy going music, peppered with earthy lyrics, evocative and effortless in its ability to please...wonderful..."
Time Out
"...American sourced Yorkshire-based love songs that thrum with a peculiarly domestic wistfulness...wonderfully old sounding songs (that) sprint ahead of most other British singer-songwriters ...lovely..."
The Observer
"...he sings with the same sort of lazy baritone as Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, his sublime arrangements are ripe with moody romanticism...the end result is gorgeously impressionistic..."
The Times
"...sublime countryish balladeering, of a Roy Orbison meets Mark Lanegan kind, sounds both world weary and, simultaneously, aglow with a renewed sense of what's really important in life...kitchen-sink tales for starry eyed romantics..another warm, honest triumph..."
ID Magazine
"...a quiet marvel...starry-eyed balladeering...unafraid of non-ironic crooning or tender romanticism...his voice alone could make itemised phone bills sound like magic realist poetry..."
X-Ray Magazine
" ...he's delivered the assured collection he's always promised...the arrangements are sublime...the whole coheres like one seamless, impressionistic mood piece...(this) should banish all those lazy, grimy Northern journalistic metaphors forever..."
Uncut
...as my Grandfather used to say. This week saw the annual Brit Awards (does anyone take it seriously?). It seems to be little more than an excuse for crowd-pulling, student-pleasing "acts" (in reality - little more than PR machines) to have a good night out. And their music is, frankly, a steaming pile of shite. The Kaiser Chiefs? Do me a favour. James Blunt's "Your Beautiful", as a newspaper columnist pointed out, is now like the flu, or weather. Who else is there? I've done a mental edit, can't even remember.
Step forward Richard Hawkins of Sheffield who writes and plays music for grown ups. Here are some reviews of Coles Corner and Low Edges, (although I'd recommend starting with the Coming Home single).
'Music is full of callow young men desperately seeking to make musc on an epic scale: here's how to do it'
Mojo
"Music to make jaws drop"
Mojo
“Richly orchestrated torch song in the style of Scott Walker from one of this country's most distinctive singer-songwriters. Smooth and velvety.” 4/5
The Sun
"...the most brazenly emotional and heart warming pop album made by a Briton this side of the millennium...no hint of post-modern irony here: this is music with it's heart on it's sleeve..."
Daily Telegraph
"Intimate tales packaged for universal appeal"
Q
'If he remains overlooked after a record this heartfelt then, well, perhaps there really isn't a God after all' 4/5
Q
"...like mid 70's Walker Brothers produced by Phil Spector...his songs are an unabashed cry from the heart - in their swoonsome company, you'll find it hard not to surrender yours..."
Mojo
"...it firmly pitches Hawley as one of the most distinctive of contemporary British singers, already a contender for one of the albums of 2003..."
NME
"...another masterstroke of timeless torch & twang...it confirms Hawley as a balladeer of the highest order, if he moved in next door (to you), your lawn might cry..."
Q
"...a haunting air of regret hangs over each country-tinged waltz, as jaded love battles with eternal hope in the quest for love...the shy simplicity and devastating finality are pure Hawley & Hawley alone..."
The Guardian
"...really lifts you from the humdrum of average 2003 indie rock...beautiful, easy going music, peppered with earthy lyrics, evocative and effortless in its ability to please...wonderful..."
Time Out
"...American sourced Yorkshire-based love songs that thrum with a peculiarly domestic wistfulness...wonderfully old sounding songs (that) sprint ahead of most other British singer-songwriters ...lovely..."
The Observer
"...he sings with the same sort of lazy baritone as Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, his sublime arrangements are ripe with moody romanticism...the end result is gorgeously impressionistic..."
The Times
"...sublime countryish balladeering, of a Roy Orbison meets Mark Lanegan kind, sounds both world weary and, simultaneously, aglow with a renewed sense of what's really important in life...kitchen-sink tales for starry eyed romantics..another warm, honest triumph..."
ID Magazine
"...a quiet marvel...starry-eyed balladeering...unafraid of non-ironic crooning or tender romanticism...his voice alone could make itemised phone bills sound like magic realist poetry..."
X-Ray Magazine
" ...he's delivered the assured collection he's always promised...the arrangements are sublime...the whole coheres like one seamless, impressionistic mood piece...(this) should banish all those lazy, grimy Northern journalistic metaphors forever..."
Uncut
