The last time we heard from Richard Hawley he was flirting with psych-rock. Three years later, he’s returned to what he does best - reflecting on Sheffield and life’s vicissitudes in a voice that suggests smoking does have its rewards. Hollow Meadows, written while Hawley was at home recovering from a slipped disc and a broken leg, finds the crooner at his most affecting and fragile. “Sorry I’ve been away so long,” begins the opener, I Still Want You, while Nothing Like a Friend evokes a vulnerable Elvis. The centrepiece, however, is the wistful What Love Means, wherein Hawley recalls his daughter leaving home, his baritone conveying both parental pride and pain.
