Hamish Hawk – A Firmer Hand (Fierce Panda)
15 August 2024
Hamish Hawk calls his brand new third LP, “A firmer hand” his “coming-of-age record”. Indeed, the songs have a cheeky freshness, pithy lyrics and big melodies. Hawk’s skyscraper-high, booming vocals cut through a slew of catchy riffs and beats, touched with just the right amount of reverb and vibrato to happily transport me back to the 80s. He is not alone in his aspirations, as his sound explores similar areas as Franz Ferdinand and especially White lies.
I am a fan of Scottish bands and my interest in Hawk stems partly from that and the fact that Rod Jones (from the outstanding Idlewild) produced all three of his records.
“Firmer” follows the rather sudden success of Hawk’s last album, “Angel Numbers” (Post Electric, 2023). He went from the small club circuit to a sold-out headline show at Glasgow’s famous Barrowland Ballroom in front of 2,000 fans last February. The album was rightly well received and is also an absolute must-have.
With “A firmer hand”Hawk says it was a kind of therapeutic purge: “When I was writing this album, I opened my closet and a skeleton appeared. What connects all the songs is a feeling of the unsaid, whether it’s guilt, shame, repression, embarrassment, shyness or whatever. I realized: I’m going to say these things, and not all of them are going to make me look good. The album had so many demands and I just went with it.”
Hawk is a bit of a pop shapeshifter. He can skilfully produce songs with a soaring 80s flair, like “Nancy Dearest”…
…and then move into more contemporary territory, as with the killer song “Men Like Wire.” But even here I am reminded of what Morrissey And Marr musically currently doing, as well as gene in their heyday of “British Disease” in the late 90s. The same goes for “Disingenuous”, which keeps up The Smiths and genes love.
The transformation continues with “You Can Film Me”. Humming with Hammond/vibrato keys, it goes into shrike Area with one shot Julian Cope “Milk an Ending” has a creeping beat and Hawk channels Dave Vanian as if he was singing a loungey Damned melody. Throughout his catalog, Hawks’ softer pieces are tinged with Travis or even indie obscure popsters, Saint Christopher. Is it a coincidence that there is a track on the new record called “Christopher St.”?
Hawk’s talent for catchy arrangements makes “Firmer” exciting. The strong closing song, “The Hard Won,” has a mesmerizing percussive synth loop as its backbone. “Autobiography of Spy” has a bold guitar riff and a sparse drum beat to give breathing room. “Questionable Hit” finds Hawk singing his way through the verses, perhaps autobiographically. It’s a stylish, cool-sounding follow-up to The Smiths’ “Paint a Vulgar Picture,” reflecting the sick, sad side of the music business.
Fans in the UK and Europe can see Hawk on tour this summer and autumn.
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