A Review Of The Richard Hawley Instore From The Fly

Richard Hawley
Piccadilly Records
Manchester
22/09/2009
A record shop this full is a rarity these days. But between house 12”s, 7” singles and the indie/alt. albums stand a heaving mass. It’s hot and it’s crowded and, as the main attraction later confirms, serial nostalgist Stuart Maconie is loitering somewhere near the back. Easing through the throng Richard Hawley cuts a surreal figure; shaded despite the unrelenting Manchester skies and with THAT hair. In a set drawing predominantly from latest effort 'Truelove’s Gutter', he draws on pop culture’s heritage without a cloying nostalgia.
“Sorry for looking at the words folks, it’s just I did so much acid in the 80s that my memory is useless.” Not that it matters, we all saw Brian Wilson at Glastonbury right? Brain fried beyond comprehension, to the point idle chit-chat relied on autocue? What are a few reminders among friends… Opening with the fractured beauty of ‘As the Dawn Breaks’, Hawley is sedate; rich vocals crowned with tentative guitars creating lilting, broken lullabies. And there’s a ramshackle charm to his music in this setting. Stripped down but maintaining vitality, the arrangements are ornate and in their way rather beautiful. Yet at times beauty is overridden by the need for a little more pace or urgency; the doleful ‘Ashes On The Fire’ is a perfect example - lingering a little too long - and while Hawley’s charisma might distract from this at times, as his vocal subsides it slips dangerously close to loitering.
The intimacy Hawley creates throughout, though, is perfect – calm, understated, rich, subtle and well measured, the Piccadilly in-store really is an ideal showcase for the new record.
Will Metcalfe
www.the-fly.co.uk