Monday, November 09, 2009

1004. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner (2005)

















Track Listing

1. Coles Corner
2. Just Like The Rain
3. Hotel Room
4. Darlin' Wait For Me
5. The Ocean
6. Born Under A Bad Sign
7. I Sleep Alone
8. Tonight
9. (Wading Through) The Waters Of My Time
10. Who's Going To Shoe Your Pretty Feet
11. Last Orders

Review

Richard Hawley's croon clearly owes something to both Scott Walker and The Divine Comedy, but in a style that he makes his own. There is none of the sarcasm of The Divine Comedy or Walker's Brellian obsession. In fact the other major influence here is from country music, inspiration from stuff like Ray Price is immediately apparent.

Yes, country music, from Sheffield. There is a heart-warming honesty which is quite self-consciously indebted to country music, just listen to "Who's Going To Shoe Your Pretty Feet". The album ends up being a beautiful collection of songs, mostly love ones, as Coles' Corner is a traditional place for lovers to meet in Sheffield.

The main reaction from the album is a quite relaxing one, both the arrangements and Hawley's voice put you at ease almost immediately when listening to the album, and you get to appreciate both his poetry and what he is doing musically in a great state of mind. Beautiful, heartfelt stuff.

Track Highlights

1. Coles Corner
2. Who's Going To Shoe Your Pretty Feet
3. Just Like The Rain
4. Born Under a Bad Sign

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The title track immortalizes the legendary Sheffield landmark Coles Corner, a popular meeting place of old and new lovers. The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize for best album.

Coles Corner:

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