Richard Hawley - Trueloves Gutter (2009)

2009 release, the sixth solo album from this Sheffield, England singer/songwriter and former Pulp sideman. The album's lush production provides a haunting backdrop to Hawley's unique voice and allows plenty of space for beautiful guitar solos. 'I wanted it to be a listening experience from start to finish, where you couldn't just pause it and go off and watch Coronation Street or whatever,' explains Hawley. 'Sonically, it flows. It's not jumping all over the place. It just has a mood that goes through the whole thing.' Thematically his darkest work to date, Truelove's Gutter explores the idea of people or things that are broken in some way, and the fractured and damaged times in which we live, to which Hawley's lyrics profoundly attest.