In This City They Call You Love

Fans of the sometime Pulp guitarist who have followed his solo career in the twenty ten years or so will find a Richard Hawley they are very familiar with on his new album, his ninth, In This City They Call You Love. He lays down dollops of reverb on both his voice and his guitar, sounding at times like a lower-pitched Roy Orbison or a less twangy Duane Eddy. Hawley loves his 50s and 60s ballads and he reworks a well-worn song structure, without really adding anything modern.