Richard Hawley
Late Night Final

When it comes to Richard Hawley, adjectives and comparisons abound. Before his music, it seems that his name is always destined to be associated with words like crooner, minstrel, storyteller; or with names like Frank Sinatra, Scott Walker, Johnny Cash, and sometimes even Leonard Cohen.

The comparisons are undoubtedly flattering but, as often happens, there is a fear that Our Man might be simplistically labeled as an epigone of those aforementioned sacred monsters. This wouldn’t be fair to Hawley who, although not exploring musically uncharted territories, can claim his own originality. Just consider his fundamentally rock background (listen to him play guitar in Longpigs on ''She Said'' or ''Elvis''), and the fact that in a musical landscape where some are inspired by '70s hard rock, or new wave, or where some believe that doing punk in 2006 still means being a rebel and is still culturally relevant, Richard Hawley has managed to carve out a niche all his own, without worrying too much about keeping up with the times or having rather unusual points of reference.

And listening to him, it seems that his guitar and his voice are enough to capture and deliver emotions. ''Something Is...!'', the first track of the album, makes me think of those American movies where the director offers the audience an aerial New York view at night, with illuminated skyscrapers and cars traveling along the Brooklyn Bridge. ''Baby You're My Light'', instead, is a catchy two-and-a-half-minute ditty that sounds quite carefree, while ''Love Of My Life'' (to stay on theme), naturally presents itself as a ballad. ''The Nights Are Cold'' is an engaging and well-interpreted track that vaguely recalls a bossa nova and serves as a prelude to what I consider the most evocative song of the album, ''Can You Hear The Rain, Love?''; in one verse Richard whispers ''We can close our eyes love, and let the dreams come softly'', and closing your eyes it seems that the rain magically materializes while the notes of the song cradle you throughout its duration.

From here on, the entire album proceeds at slow paces only to culminate in the instrumental ''The Light At the End Of The Tunnel'', whose title truly seems to represent a glimmer of light after so much melancholy (the tunnel metaphor is quite fitting), if it weren't for that phrase in parentheses: ''Was A Train Coming The Other Way'', which sounds somewhat like a joke.
And, indeed, the song flows slowly, sadly; a simple and beautiful guitar arpeggio followed by choirs that resemble the sound of the wind in a tunnel, and the noise of the train coming in the opposite direction, which closes this little gem.