Coles Corner

Richard Hawley's day job has been guitarist for Pulp, but the native of Sheffield, England, now spends his nights working on nocturnal solo albums that wrap themselves in dreams of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Scott Walker, and Lee Hazlewood. (Hawley and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker contributed a track to a Hazlewood tribute album). With a baritone perpetually in anguish over broken love, dead love, bittersweet love (anything other than happy love), Hawley, like Chris Isaak, shifts to past decades without resorting to complete nostalgia. He lets the strings engulf him, the piano sway him, and the ballads play him. <i>Coles Corner</i>, he claims, is an actual corner in his hometown where, since 1905, people have come to have their social needs met. His note-taking pays off as he croons through the sensitive "Darlin' Wait for Me," the countrified "I Sleep Alone," and the near-art song of "The Ocean." Perfect for a rainy night or overcast afternoon.