How Hawksley Got His Groove Back
You ever think that one of your favourite artists is sort of off his game? Like, he released a bunch of awesome albums early in his career (seriously, several albums that are well on their way to becoming genre-defying classics not even ten years after their release) and then he started to kind of flame out? Maybe he released some albums that were not as good. Not BAD, just… not quite up to par with what you’ve come to expect.
That’s exactly how I feel about Hawksley Workman.
But based on what I’ve been hearing from his new album, Meat (it drops January 19, which I have already earmarked as a happy day in music land, cuz Spoon’s Transference comes out then, too), this might be the recording that puts him squarely back in my good graces.
He’s released several singles from the album. So far, my favourites are “You Don’t Just Want To Break Me” and “We Ain’t No Vampire Bats,” but “We’ll Make Time,” has all the hallmarks of a great Hawksley song: Chanted almost-rap lines, quirky melodies, driving rhythms, hand claps, a hooky chorus and a big, fat, rockin’ section in the middle. I haven’t heard anything from him that I’ve liked this much since “Striptease.”
When For Him And The Girls came out, I felt like I was listening to Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits meet up and agree that Tom would write and Leonard would sing and they’d make gorgeous, creepy, ethereal music together. Then came Last Night We Were The Delicious Wolves and glam Bowie comparisons were not out of place. Lover/Fighter was a little more commercial, but it still had a distinctly Hawksley way about it. The duality of love and anger was much more obvious, though, I think less fully explored than it could have been. After that, I tuned out for a couple years. Maybe because I was introduced to Hawksley when his songs had a very warm, natural vibe. His later stuff has been kind of antiseptic and, well, cold. It’s the difference between a lumpy loaf of artisan bread with chunks of grains and sunflower seeds in it and a perfectly square loaf of Wonderbread. The new songs seem like a happy return to the chunky, homemade bread. There are still some synth elements, but just enough to make it crisp. When it’s sprinkled into the mix, I don’t mind. In fact, I kinda like it. When it takes over everything, not so much.
My favourite Hawklsey Workman songs are about tender destruction and utter devotion. He sings about beauty and pain and the simplicity of love and I bet you’re thinking “Big whoop. Lots of musicians do that.” I dunno. They might try, but they don’t often succeed on the level he does. When he’s on, he’s fucking ON. Listening to a good Hawksley Workman song is like watching this scene from Punch Drunk Love:
Barry: I’m lookin’ at your face and I just wanna smash it. I just wanna fuckin’ smash it with a sledgehammer and squeeze it. You’re so pretty.
Lena: I want to chew your face, and I want to scoop out your eyes and I want to eat them and chew them and suck on them.
[Pause]
Barry: OK. This is funny. This is nice.
Hawksley, like Barry and Lena, knows what it is to love the sight of something so much that you want to destroy it. Which is why I love “You Don’t Just Want To Break Me.” This song builds to a whooping, screaming, yowling climax that oozes sex and hurt and anger and above all, passion! Hawksley’s voice is like a spreading bruise; violent but beautiful. You want to look away. You want to examine it intimately. You want to listen and that’s, like, all of the battle for a musician. You can stream all these singles on his website, which also has links to iTunes and Six Shooter, where you can buy them as MP3s.
And hey, if you’re in Guelph in February (I won’t be, so sad!), Hawksley is playing the Hillside Inside festival before heading out on a cross-Canada tour of this bad boy. Catch him if you can. His live performances are the stuff of legend and something every fan of live music should see. You can pre-order Meat from Six Shooter Records, where you can also buy all his other albums. Including Almost a Full Moon, which I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend. Let’s call it a “seasonal” album and let’s also say that it’s his best work. I’m giving you a track from that one as an early Christmas present. Enjoy!
We Ain't No Vampire Bats - Hawksley Workman: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download A House Or Maybe A Boat - Hawksley Workman: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
