Edinburgh-based singer–songwriter Hamish Hawk whose intense lyrical compositions blend aspects of indie rock and chamber pop, all laced with a bone-dry sense of humour releases his latest album `A Firmer Hand` this month. The album focuses on his relationships with the men in his life and has been described as “an anthology of diary entries, homoerotic encounters, vainglorious men, and unreliable narrators”.
We are introduced to this opus with `Juliet as Epithet` with a recurring tapped percussive beat and a wavering or wah wah like synth tone allowing the singer`s enchanting Edinburgh inflection to recall a relationship that at the time seemed overwhelming but is almost a distant memory. There`s a real expansive edgy feel to `Machiavelli’s Room` which again reflects on a relationship that was irresistible but ultimately destructive.
`Big Cat Tattoos is a nigh on embittered diatribe about an ex-partner but ironically ends up appearing a little bitter and unbecoming. We enjoy churning guitar riffs and a guiding bass and drum rhythm that at time sways almost mirroring the narrator`s hostile sentiment. I read that ‘Nancy Dearest’ according to the singer is “defined by an absence. On the one hand, it’s a bitterly defiant song, an ego trip, a narcissistic flight of fancy. On the other, it’s a song about sheer loneliness, isolation, and ultimate loss.” It almost raced along and was a number that really drew me in and had me hitting the repeat for longer than was healthy.
`Autobiography of Spy` has a wistful retro dreamy rolling texture while `You Can Film Me` has a delightful kind of narcissistic or egotistical introspective sensibility.
`Christopher St.` is fairly stripped back with piano and vocals and adds a synth tone as it evolves but although brief it does leave a quite profound mark. The singer has shared that `Men Like Wire` is “about men. Men I have and haven’t known, men I’ve seen, heard, loved, and lost. Men I’ve been seated next to at weddings, bus stops and dinner parties, on trains, beds, and park benches. They’re all in there, for better, for worse.” It has that all encompassing atmosphere and i`m sure is a number that Stephen Patrick would love to have written if he were only brave enough.
`Questionable Hit` may well be a suppressed obsession with somebody and wanting to mould them in an image you have for them. A possibly unhealthy fascination which appears to be riddled with repressed religious connotations. There`s a kind of fantasy feel to `Disingenuous` which could possibly be a chronicle of a brief assignation or tête-à-tête that appears deceitful and dishonest from both parties’ perspective.
`Milk an Ending` is another dreamy offering which seems to convey that initial uncomfortable preamble or foreplay like phase in the early stages of a relationship. The album concludes with `The Hard Won` a kind of introspective musing on an early tryst that on reflection was ended in possibly a rather ruthless manner. The accompanying music echoes the contemplative nature of the song.
`A Firmer Hand` will hopefully be the album that will allow Hamish Hawk the recognition and appreciation he richly deserves. This release is full of eloquent, expressive, and articulate lyrical content shared over a musical soundscape that reflects and enhances his emotive content and brought to life with the help of Andrew Pearson (guitars), Stefan Maurice (keyboards and drums) and Alex Duthie (bass), who form the core of his band alongside John Cashman (keyboards).
In a world where so much music these days is almost formulaic, it`s heartening to have somebody offering something that is original if not unique.
Rating 9 / 10
