The veteran Sheffield singer-songwriter returns his ninth solo LP, a touching, gentle love letter to his home city, referencing that South Yorkshire universal term of address, local characters and perspectives, with a set of heartwarming, heartfelt indie, blues, and Americana-style numbers. “Well I was born and raised by the river / Slowly it flows through this city of knives/ Not too far from the mountain that shivers / Folks work so hard and they stay all their lives,” he sings on People, a moving tribute to the steel city, but with a heartbreaking reference also to loss. There’s a variety of styles on show, less rockabilly than 2019’s Further album, but the striking stomp of single, Two For His Heels was inspired by a phrase from a game of cribbage in a working mens’ club has a Duane Eddy-style twang and from a Mexican Baja Sexto riff. Deep Space is more psychedelic folk, Do I Really Need To Know? is a gentle soulful, bossa nova number, while Prism In Jeans has that classic romantic sweep of strings and acoustic guitars and Hawley’s smooth voice channelling a Roy Orbison influence. Have Love plays on the titular theme with a shuffling, catchy simplicity. Heavy Rain is a melancholy country number, and is one of several songs in which there’s a water theme, including the slower, bluesy Deep Waters. Filled with moving, vivid stories, gentle tragedy and emotions, Hawley remains a class act with warmth and a timeless, easy style. Out on BMG.
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