Richard Hawley has celebrated his latest greatest hits LP with an intimate live set at The Grapes in Sheffield.
- READ MORE:Ā Richard Hawley talks his musical opening in London, Pulp, Arctic Monkeys and The Leadmill
Last month, the singer-songwriter announced his first compilation, āNow Then: The Very Best Of Richard Hawleyā, which features 36 songs from across his entire back catalogue along with a re-recording of āNot The Only Roadā, originally released as āThe Only Roadā in 2003, which he recently re-worked for The Full Monty TV series.
It also includes his 2019 cover of Bob DylanāsĀ āBallad Of A Thin Manā, 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 Skyās EdgeĀ features classic songs by Hawley to portray āa love letter to Sheffield and ode to the iconic Park Hill Estateā, a brutalist housing area that has gone through various eras of dilapidation and regeneration. The show ācharts the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six tumultuous decadesā.
āThe great test will be how well it travels. Like Hendersonās Relish and local beer, it might not make it that far south! I hope it does, and itās great that The National Theatre have given it the chance,” he told NME about the musical.
He continued: āThereās always been the drive for me to do it, and it isnāt money or success, but to make sure that those peopleās voices are heard. The people that lived on Park Hill were basically forgotten. They were left to rot and then forced out.ā
Speaking about his new music, Hawley said that he was āitchingā to get back into the studio to work on the follow-up to 2019 album āFurtherā this year.
He said: āIāve got melodies and chords. I deliberately avoided writing lyrics during lockdown because I didnāt 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 donāt know what I fear the most; I donāt know whether I fear COVID more than the fucking Tories. Given a choice, which one would you have? Thatās a difficult one. Iām sure those fuckers are doing more damage to the country long-term.
āIt just does my head in ā how people can be so fucking county, and get away with it. Politicians, they just donāt seem to be accountable to anyone these days. I just find it a bit distressing, and Iām sure everyone does.Ā Theyāre very clever people, the Tories. Thatās why theyāre the oldest political party in the world. Theyāre very resourceful and horrible.ā
Hawley added: āThereās usually some [anger] on my records, so we shall see.ā
In other news, the singerĀ joined PulpĀ at theirĀ first of two hometown shows in Sheffield in the summer during āCommon Peopleā and āSunriseā.
The post Watch Richard Hawley celebrate new greatest hits album with intimate live set from The Grapes in Sheffield appeared first on NME.
