Chris Saunders
Richard Hawley has announced his new album Further.
As the title suggests, despite still being largely recorded there Hawley has looked beyond his beloved Sheffield whilst crafting his eighth studio album. “I really wanted to challenge myself to try to keep things relatively up-tempo and keep the songs to about three minutes long,” Hawley says. “I was asking myself ‘Can you get your message across like a bullet? Can you still do that?’ It’s quite a tough question to ask.”
Indeed, Hawley’s approach was to ‘play like tomorrow may never happen’ with the album clocking in at under 40 minutes. “We’re all bombarded by so much hateful stuff at the moment that I was determined to make something that is really loving,” he continues. “Some of the songs definitely reflect that and deal with what’s going on,” says Hawley. “The song Not Lonely is a good example.”
“It deals with the stage that I hope our children get to, that stage where they can have a place of their own, being able to find their own space and luxuriate in it.”
Further is released on June 7th, while Standing At The Sky’s Edge, a musical containing 20 Hawley tracks, is due to premiere at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on March 15th.