In This City They Call You Love

From the opening crunch of Two For His Heels to the closing majestic sway of ‘Tis Night, it adds up to his best album since Standing At The Sky’s Edge. Those who have just discovered Hawley through the musical will be delighted, as will his legion of long-standing fans – this familiar mix of Sheffield steel and sentimentality still runs deep.

Hawley continues to enchant. [Jul 2024, p.85]

His ninth album rests on his strengths. His balladeer’s voice is a steadying comfort on “Heavy Rain”, adding subtle Orbison shivers on “I’ll Never Get Over You”. Duane Eddy-like twangs judder through murder ballad “Two For His Heels”, and a guitar solo scorches “Deep Space”. The album’s beating heart, though, is “People”, a supernal acoustic tribute to Sheffield. [Jun 2024, p.33]

The album teeters eloquently between introspective folk, twangy roots pop, and bashing psych-rockabilly numbers. Musically, the album is a nice balance of the sounds and influences he's pursued throughout his career.

‘In This City They Call You Love’ doesn’t falter for its lack of invention; there is just a feeling that these sonic quirks can be pushed even further, made even bolder. But as the soulful, breathtaking inner-city vignette ‘People’ shows, he clearly remains focused on the next great song he hasn’t written yet.