Richard Hawley – In This City They Call You Love Review

Like Truelove’s Gutter before it, In This City They Call You Love, the tenth studio album from Richard Hawley, the focus is on vocal strength. He finds himself drawing from the warmth of the colloquial Sheffield well once more, and why not? This is not a man using his hometown to strengthen his writing or sharpen the influential spear which punctures our walled-off heart but a chance to highlight the working-class roots of a performer who has remained as consistent as the best of them. Three singles before the full release maintain a consistent desire to profile Hawley as a singer-songwriter. His rocking tones are still whirring away as he nods to the Duane Eddy influences, the B-Sides which boomed through his youth – as profiled by 28 Little Bangers. He is filled with a confident, guitar-ready routine of twelve tracks and In This City They Call You Love may be his finest album since a Mercury Awards nomination over a decade ago. 

His experiences with the stage may have influenced the booming, percussion-heavy pang of Have Love. Repetitive and effective in equal measure, the song itself is stripped of references to his hometown and makes for an overwhelming and exciting experience. Love is not enough. Sharp guitar work cuts through, and a near-silence for the bridge gives Have Love a bleaker edge as the defiant, constant cry for reciprocated value charms its way through. Hawley flirts with those darker tones neatly, the Truelove’s Gutter effect is itched and transferred to lighter pockets of optimism. Gone are the heavy guitar solos of Standing at the Sky’s Edge and welcomed with open arms are the strings of Prism in Jeans or the burning fires in homes on cloudy days with Heavy Rain. There comes a tender sweetness in the bulk of these tracks but Hawley hints at darker pockets. This is not a funnel of optimism but a lived-in collection of songs – as his best works are.  

People has a stripped-back approach to its melancholic tone. Those joyous moments of birds singing and elderly couples still deeply romanced are delivered with heartbreaking, baritone structure. Hawley finds the time to lay down Hear That Lonesome Whistle Blow too, a warm and festive-like feeling washes over its backing vocal-clad charms. Near quartet-like in their additions, the real charm is the guitar work from Shez Sheridan. Tear-jerking acoustics and the dense realities of love and the low points are paired nicely in a piece which will linger on the mind like a Marty Robbins trail song. Deep Space rallies the harsher rock-like tones of Further and with it comes a solid endeavour with a lick of irony considering the isolation and space received just four years ago. Hawley gets the chance for space on Deep Waters as his vocals are almost alone, drifting off and echoing out towards the lucid end. 

Hawley continues his decades-long streak of maintaining honesty with his listeners. In those fractured beauties comes the charm of an acoustic master. Deep in the Disgraceland recording studio shed comes a collection of refined heartbreakers, stomping guitar classics and a new chapter for Hawley. There is a real beauty in those clear influences to the guitar work, crackling away with a tender, almost lounge-like quality on I’ll Never Get Over You and Do I Really Need to Know?. Once more Hawley charms with a collection of genuine and lived-in performances. Subtle bass work from Colin Elliot cannot be overstated in its impact on those latter tracks. He, Hawley, Shez and the gang spring to life on a formidable tenth record which feels like a brave step into a new, acoustic rockabilly form. ‘tis Night feels hymn-like and a solid cap to In This City They Call You Love, an intense yet laid-back piece from the Sheffield legend, who digs deep and gives some of his intimate best. 

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