Richard Hawley's eponymous mini-album was one of this year's revelations, a haunting set of romantic crooners that sounded like a lost gem from the Roy Orbison archives. This first full-length outing from the Sheffield guitarist (who's done stints with Finley Quaye, Longpigs and Pulp) contains plenty of equally excellent songs cut from the same cloth - a combination of waltzing guitars, elegant lyrics of lost innocence and lonely train journeys and a faint tinge of eeriness that lingers in the memory long after the music dies away. Hawley's music has a classic, timeless feel to it that should appeal to 15 and 50-year-olds alike - and the exciting thing is that there should be plenty more albums left in him yet.
