Richard Hawley - 'The Ocean' (Mute)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
You can't imagine anyone found crooners particularly cool in their time. Surely they were just rich. Granted, the mafia stuff was exciting, the women would have been plentiful. But the music itself, that soppy, lovey dovey nonsense, wasn't cool... was it?
What's special about 'The Ocean' is that it happens to maintain a little indie credibility whilst managing to tap in to the spirit of the 'ol Blue Eyes at the same time. It's crooned, there's no doubt about it, but the lavish string arrangements and the way the melody works just screams mid nineties guitar music. As such, it's the most faithful convergence of the two styles since Blur's 'To The End' made you pay extra attention in French classes.
The fact that it doesn't sound particularly relevant matters little, as it's the kind of melody, the kind of hushed but unafraid to soar voice that will sound as sumptuous in any era. Shit, I'm struggling not to use the word 'timeless' here, but dagnabbit, I just did. Time will tell. The polish, the violins, the old before his time look to Hawley himself - they all combine to eradicate any kind of 'cool' from it. But that towering melody remains, gently shaking the indie kid in you from his content slumber. You wonder, maybe this is what would have happened if Sinatra had a fringe.
Artists in this article: Richard Hawley
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