Richard Hawley – Prism in Jeans Review

We are finally at a point in music history where guitarists are confident in describing themselves as geometric shapes who can funnel one meaning from another. Shine a stream of light through Richard Hawley and out the other end comes this colourful knack for pulling love out of nowhere. Those black-and-white interpretations we have of the world around us are kicked in with his glowing look at the world and it comes clear on Prism in Jeans, a song which emboldens and identifies the unconditional care of In This City They Call You Love. Hawley has provided range through previous singles Two for His Heels and Heavy Rain and this third piece, Prism in Jeans, serves as a neat unifier of the two tones taken so far. Moody moments of heavy guitar rock crash head-on with the sombre delicacies of his weather-based warnings.  

Smooth acoustics and a melodic base bring about Hawley in the role of storyteller. He is no longer in the centre of those crashing waves but an observer of blustering winds. Through those steady and light notions which dominated the early days of his career and revived themselves on Hollow Meadows comes a soothing third single. There is a sense of accepting yourself and a comfortable string of figuring out where you belong in the grand scheme of life – a broader idea which gives Hawley some room to play around with twanging instrumentals which would make the late Duane Eddy proud. Flickers of Because They’re Young float through – more for the tone it sets as a gloriously upbeat and hope-filled track than the use of electric momentum. Hawley has stripped this track of electrics almost entirely and turns instead to those crooner staples which provided the core of his finest songs. Hawley comes good with a short and sweet piece of flowing guitar work.  

Where Prism in Jeans is another slice of rewarding, tender work from Hawley it does not lose the edge he has fashioned for himself over Hollow Meadows and Further. His previous record felt like barriers had been put up around the heart and it severed ties with the emotive clarity so frequently relied on. Gone is the rockability and the return of summery guitar work is in full flow. Prism jeans are casual confidence personified – an outlier in the streets as the world falls in on itself. Yet Prism in Jeans is rounding up those self-assured members of the public and steering itself to a generally positive tone. Even with those heartfelt studies of loneliness, there comes a booming, almost jolly style from Hawley.  

He has the tone nailed and In This City They Call You Love sounds comfortably broad in its sound so far. Inherent to all three of the singles so far is a degree of faith in the scattershot style Hawley has fed to listeners. With the booming Further-like Two for His Heels and the delicate Heavy Rain, a strike for the middle ground was inevitable. Prism in Jeans does just this and leans a little more into the soft-rock relaxation Hawley has such a strong hand in. Flickers of Serious filter through this recent piece, mainly the jumped-up and rallying guitar work which hears some fine playing put to the test. Prism in Jeans is another slice of solid momentum for the In This City They Call You Love release, the line between comfortable expectations and pushing the fold of his latest works is blurred once more by the Sheffield star.