Hawley, Richard / Hollow Meadows (2LP/Trans Blue/Booklet)

Hollow Meadows is the eighth studio album by Sheffield singer, songwriter and guitarist Richard Hawley, originally released on 11 September 2015. Recorded at Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield and co-produced with long-time collaborator Colin Elliot, it marks a deliberate return to the lush, cinematic quality of his earlier work following the electric storm of Standing at the Sky's Edge. Where that record pushed hard into motorik rock, Hollow Meadows breathes deeply — orchestrated, unhurried and deeply rooted in the sound of Sheffield, with Hawley's warm baritone sitting at the centre of everything.

The album meditates on themes of love, ageing and the quiet textures of long relationships with characteristically understated grace. "I Still Want You" opens with a classic Hawley sound — tremoloed guitar, brushed drums, upright bass — while "Nothing Like a Friend", "Welcome the Sun" and the hymn-like "Heart of Oak" demonstrate the full emotional range of a songwriter at the peak of his craft. The album was widely acclaimed as one of his finest records.