Turning points don’t always seem to be obviously in front of you. Speaking to The Guardian Richard Hawley described the contrasting emotions which backdropped the writing and recording of The Ocean, the standout song of Coles Corner, an album which brought the watershed moment in his a career.
Having left his native Sheffield for a road trip to Cornwall, the singer recounted how a vision of his wife and children silhouetted against the beach brought sudden inspiration. Back in South Yorkshire that joy was counterbalanced with an overwhelming feeling of being used up and spat out by an industry which rarely takes the welfare of it’s people seriously. The song’s vocals were done in a single angst ridden take.
Hawley’s third album as a solo artist after The Longpigs unfortunate defenestration and a stint in Pulp was long on risk. Jarvis Cocker had badgered him into recording a batch of demos which became 2001’s Late Night Final. Critics had been kind to that and it’s succesor, but Hawley was dropped. Without a deal, the next installment felt to everyone concerned like it might be the last.
There’s no suspense here of course; a beguiling mix of pre-rock n’ roll, cocktail lounge crooning, Americana and proto surf rock, Coles Corner would be nominated for a Mercury Prize and reward it’s writer for pushing back against the skinny jeaned zeitgeist. The anniversary edition is a little light on compelling new material, but that allows listeners to pay attention to it’s core, particularly the stunning title track, Hotel Room, Just Like The Rain and Born Under A Bad Sign. If you’re going to have a life changing epiphany, it might as well be by the sea.
You can read a full review here.
The Voice Of Unreason 