Call Upon The Author

Richard Hawley has quite the musical pedigree. A former member of Treebound Story, The Longpigs and Pulp, one might be forgiven for expecting some sort of indie-pop jollity from this Sheffield born-gent: not the case with this, his current E.P False Lights From The Land. In fact, the mood of this E.P. is serious, soft and thoughtful: it visits sea shanties, folk, and African melodies. So…what’s it like?
Opening track Remorse Code is an almost ten minute long epic – a softly played meander through dreamy vocals, soft crooning and feathery percussion. Exciting it is not, but it is lovely to listen to; it’s the perfect soundtrack to a snooze in the sunshine.
Shallow Brown features harmonies from The Smoke Fairies, and is entirely a cappella. Originally a West African folk song, this is evocative of that region, and shows off Richard’s vocal talents. It lacks heat however, and slides a little into dirge territory.
The Ellan Vannin Tragedy is my favourite track on the E.P., purely for nostalgic reasons: we used to sing this at my school. An old thumping sea shanty about a doomed ship, this track also features The Smoke Fairies with some eerie harmonies straight from Davey Jones’ locker. Would I like it if it didn’t make me feel about ten years old? Not sure, but like it I do.
Final track There’s A Storm A Comin’ sounds like something that would be played at the end of a fifties school dance – the gentle percussion and slightly surfy guitar combine with Richard in full croon to bring to mind swaying softly in someone’s arms at the end of the prom. Although the backing vocals never do go ‘bom bom bom bom’, you find yourself just waiting for them to do so.
In short, Richard Hawley has a really lovely voice, and is obviously a musical experimenter of some scope. this E.P is just not exciting enough for me.