Hawley, Richard / Lowedges (1LP/Transparent Red)

Lowedges is the third studio album by Sheffield singer, songwriter and guitarist Richard Hawley, originally released in 2003 and named after a suburb of his home city. Recorded at Yellow Arch Studios in Sheffield — the studio co-founded by his long-time producer and collaborator Colin Elliot — it was the record on which Hawley's sound fully took shape as a collaborative group effort rather than a one-man project, while retaining the romantic, late-night Sheffield atmosphere that had defined his first two albums. The NME called Lowedges the first great album of 2003, and it topped the Virgin Radio end-of-year poll.

The album is defined by an elegiac warmth: Hawley's deep baritone and guitar wrapped in chamber arrangements, orchestral textures and subtle percussive colour. "Run for Me" opens with characteristic grace, while "The Only Road", "You Don't Miss Your Water (Till Your Well Runs Dry)" and the quietly devastating closer "The Nights Are Made for Us" demonstrate a songwriter operating with complete confidence. Q magazine described the album as confirming Hawley as a balladeer of the very highest order.

This reissue is pressed on transparent red vinyl.