Lady's Bridge

Richard Hawley | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 2, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mute U.S.
• ASIN: B000V9KDZ2
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,180 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The sleeve insert that comes with Richard Hawley's latest CD contains a large photo of a graffiti-covered fence, with the words "macho music is stupid" prominently displayed in plain black paint. It's a fitting slogan for Hawley, who has built a first-rate solo career out of tender rockabilly and velvety ballads that have nothing to do with pointless hipster bravado. As with his last record, the fantastic Coles Corner, the mood on Lady's Bridge is often lullaby quiet, with songs about love and loss, the hunger for understanding, and yet also a loner's desire for escape and isolation. But even though Hawley's nocturnes can be tremendously sad, they're never sappy or self-consciously cloying; the sweeping confidence of his work here is so satisfying, it's more natural to feel exhilarated than depressed. The first single, "Tonight the Streets are Ours" opens with a beautiful blast of strings, then rolls into a transcendent bridge celebrating the electric and scary intensity of connection. Doo-wop vocals elevate "I'm Looking for Someone to Find Me" into something joyous, which is a trick, considering the song's main refrain is "I got no one to love." Wonder is everywhere for Hawley, even when--especially when--he has to go it alone. "The Sea Calls" is an ode to the ocean, but it's also about a state of mind--the thrilling uncertainty that comes with loss, resignation, and the power of being on one's own. It's sturdy stuff made from blood and bones, with the kind of rich tonal authority one normally associates with names like Elvis, Orbison, and Cash. Buy it, and thank me later. --Matthew Cooke

Product Description

2007 album from the critically acclaimed British singer/songwriter, his fifth solo set overall. Before he began his solo career, Hawley was a member of Longpigs and Pulp, amongst others. The album, an elegiac ode to Hawley's native Sheffield, England, follows up 2005's stately Mercury Prize nominee Coles Corner. 11 tracks including the single 'Tonight The Streets Are Ours'. Mute. 2007

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Velvet-Voiced Crooner Serenades Nicely, October 23, 2007

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M. JEFFREY MCMAHON "herculodge" (Torrance, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lady's Bridge (Audio CD)

Nocturnal and romantic, these pop serenades recall the tunes of Frank Sinatra, Roy Orbison, and Nick Drake but take us into the modern age with the likes of Magnet, Ronderlin, and the Divine Comedy. "Tonight the Streets are Ours" is a classic, which comes in a shiny up-tempo version that has as much longing as The Smith's "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out." Better yet, you also get an aching acoustic version. Not one bad song on this masterpiece.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Hawley masterpiece, September 8, 2008

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Sambient (East Coast USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lady's Bridge (Audio CD)

A new flavor added to the lush guitar stylings of Richard Hawley, some rockabilly.
A stunner, no doubt, with some added catchiness.
Why the world at large is not aware of this man's talent remains a mystery to me. Someday plenty of coffee shop strumming straw hat wearing would-bees with be doing their versions of Hawley songs and hailing him as the genius some of us have known him to be all along.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where did this come from? Can we have some more?, November 10, 2007

By 

Active Listener "I heard that!" (D.C. - Baltimore Corridor) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Lady's Bridge (Audio CD)

This music is a warm blanket for a quiet winter morning - a loving lingering hug - salve for an injured soul - unmistakable optimism in a subdued suit of sadness. Lady's Bridge is music out of time and unplacable in time. I can only guess - and I'd like to believe - that Hawley made this music to please himself. It is un-self-conscious, with influences that subtly draw upon the best of the past 60 years. String and brass arrangements ebb and flow around soulful guitar and vocals to create a laid back, satisfying ride that you'll want to take over and over again. Regardless of whom it was made for, I'm glad I found it. Filed in my iPod under (genre): "Slo-core". If you like Chris Isaak, Tindersticks, Ida, and Low, you'll love this too.