Earlier this year Hamish Hawk signed to So Recordings and will release new album A Firmer Hand on the label on 16 August. It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for Hamish Hawk including a headline tour in support of previous album Angel Numbers, support slots including opening for Villagers, numerous festivals and to round it off a sold-out headline show in February 2024 in front of 2000 fans at the legendary Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow.
In April 2023 Hawk and his band went into the studio to record A Firmer Hand. As with its two predecessors, the album was produced by Idlewild’s Rod Jones at Post Electric Studios in Leith, Edinburgh. Once again, the songs were written by Hawk with Andrew Pearson (guitars) and Stefan Maurice (keyboards and drums), who form the core of his band alongside Alex Duthie (bass) and John Cashman (keyboards). However this time they wanted A Firmer Hand to be a true group album, as Hawk further explains:
“Everyone who plays on it is in the band; there are no additional musicians, it’s just us. That’s different from Angel Numbers, which got to the point where it was kind of chamber-poppy in its execution. We were actually thinking about recording it live. In the end we only did drums and bass like that, but we could stand in a room and play all these songs.”
A Firmer Hand is a cornucopia of soundscapes, at times expansive and exuberant, at others calm and considered. On first listen it has an overwhelming sense of the intimate, Hawk is laying everything out for the listener to absorb, and inevitably enjoy. It becomes clear that this is an album about men and Hawks relationships including friends, family, lovers and colleagues. Hawk is a wordsmith, and uses language to express the personal and the world he inhabits. ‘You Can Film Me’ is a standout:
“Driving in drag down the Moray Coast
The boy who lived the least and worried the most
said, “love is for losers, lust is a boast”
Such disdain for the natural world”
Indeed such is Hawks talent as a lyricist this reviewer could provide paragraph after paragraph of examples of the vivid use of language on A Firmer Hand. Look closely and Hawk is exposing so much about himself and those in his life. It’s a searingly honest album, intensely personal. The imagery created by the narratives are lucid. Characters abound throughout. On ‘Big Cat Tattoos‘:
“Will you record the sound I make when I die?
What the devil will it take for you to look me in the eye
Am I your number one, or just some other guy?
If I asked, would you wise up and die?”
Hawk and his musicians have evolved on from previous album Angel Numbers with the instrumentation and pace of tracks on A Firmer Hand. ‘Disingenuous’ is an upbeat joy, with a hint of The Smiths in its pace and rhythm. And ‘Nancy Dearest’ ‘s key changes are thrilling along with a guitar which adds a hint of anxious edge and tension. The electric guitar shines on the track as it continues, but it’s rough and ready, and all the better for it.
Hawk states that he isn’t confined by genres and this is evidenced in spades on this album. ‘Autobiography of Spy’ takes a tango vibe, exotic and intoxicating, whereas the short and quiet ‘Christopher St.‘ highlights the vocal quality of Hawk accompanied by piano, providing a moments respite within an album showcasing such versatility. Perhaps this is due in part to the variety of characters and situations that Hawk chooses to share with us on this album. At times the lyrics flowed from Hawk in the creation of these 12 songs, such is the cathartic nature of creativity. ‘Milk an Ending’ bristles with sexual tension and has a hint of self-loathing, which exudes from the deep vocal delivery as well as the lyrics:
“Don’t believe we’ve met”
Boldly the threat undressed
I wish I lived on your time
I trust your hand intended to touch mine
A Firmer Hand is Hamish Hawk at his most honest, brutally so in parts. There is a sense of catharsis here. Doesn’t art and the creative process allow us to navigate the human condition with all its complexities as we travel the journey of life? In creating this album Hawk has given us an insight into his world, warts and all. The quality of penmanship and musicality of Hawk and his musicians has produced an album bursting with originality and heartfelt emotion.
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