Richard Hawley has celebrated his latest greatest hits LP with an intimate live set at The Grapes in Sheffield.
- READ MORE:Â Richard Hawley talks his musical opening in London, Pulp, Arctic Monkeys and The Leadmill
Last month, the singer-songwriter announced his first compilation, âNow Then: The Very Best Of Richard Hawleyâ, which features 36 songs from across his entire back catalogue along with a re-recording of âNot The Only Roadâ, originally released as âThe Only Roadâ in 2003, which he recently re-worked for The Full Monty TV series.
It also includes his 2019 cover of Bob Dylanâs âBallad Of A Thin Manâ, which was recorded for the finale of season five of Peaky Blinders.
As a celebration of the compilation’s release, Hawley performed a live set at The Grapes, a pub in Sheffield which is also the same place the Arctic Monkeys played their first ever gig as a band.
Earlier this year, Hawley spoke to NME about his musical, Standing At The Sky’s Edge and his new material.
Standing at the Skyâs Edge features classic songs by Hawley to portray âa love letter to Sheffield and ode to the iconic Park Hill Estateâ, a brutalist housing area that has gone through various eras of dilapidation and regeneration. The show âcharts the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six tumultuous decadesâ.
âThe great test will be how well it travels. Like Hendersonâs Relish and local beer, it might not make it that far south! I hope it does, and itâs great that The National Theatre have given it the chance,” he told NME about the musical.
He continued: âThereâs always been the drive for me to do it, and it isnât money or success, but to make sure that those peopleâs voices are heard. The people that lived on Park Hill were basically forgotten. They were left to rot and then forced out.â
Speaking about his new music, Hawley said that he was âitchingâ to get back into the studio to work on the follow-up to 2019 album âFurtherâ this year.
He said: âIâve got melodies and chords. I deliberately avoided writing lyrics during lockdown because I didnât want to write a lockdown record. We still have to live with COVID but I was hopeful the world would be OK, and in many circumstances we are. I donât know what I fear the most; I donât know whether I fear COVID more than the fucking Tories. Given a choice, which one would you have? Thatâs a difficult one. Iâm sure those fuckers are doing more damage to the country long-term.
âIt just does my head in â how people can be so fucking county, and get away with it. Politicians, they just donât seem to be accountable to anyone these days. I just find it a bit distressing, and Iâm sure everyone does. Theyâre very clever people, the Tories. Thatâs why theyâre the oldest political party in the world. Theyâre very resourceful and horrible.â
Hawley added: âThereâs usually some [anger] on my records, so we shall see.â
In other news, the singer joined Pulp at their first of two hometown shows in Sheffield in the summer during âCommon Peopleâ and âSunriseâ.
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