Richard Hawley’s Truelove’s Gutter on the way in September

Sheffield songwriter Richard Hawley will release his new album in September on Mute records. It’s called Truelove’s Gutter and is eight tracks long.

This will be his first record since 2007’s Lady’s Bridge and his sixth overall. Overall, Truelove’s Gutter is said to have a darker sound than Hawley’s more recent releases. Some of the tracks even approach the ten minute mark. The press releases says:

“Truelove’s Gutter explores the idea of people or things that are broken in some way, and the fractured and damaged times in which we live, to which Hawley’s lyrics give profound attestation.”

Hawley has explained that the album is attended to have a definite thematic and sonic unity: “I wanted it to be a listening experience from start to finish, where you couldn’t just pause it and go off and watch Coronation Street or whatever. Sonically, it flows. It’s not jumping all over the place. It just has a mood that goes through the whole thing.”

He recently told the BBC that the album was inspired by particularly dark periods in his life and those of others: ”You have to engage with people immediately around you and I realised that quite a few people that I really loved, whilst I was away, were probably not having a great time … Not that I was praying on them writing songs, but I wrote songs inspired by some of their situations – not in a judgemental way. I tried to understand, because a lot of it is pretty dark.”

First single ‘For Your Lover Give Some Time’ is certainly reflective of these concerns and is available on iTunes right now.  Hawley will embark on a UK tour in october in support of the album. Full album tracklist is as follows:

01 As the Dawn Breaks
02 Open Up the Door
03 Ashes on the Fire
04 Remorse Code
05 Don’t Get Hung Up in Your Soul
06 Soldier On
07 For Your Lover, Give Some Time
08 Don’t You Cry