Album Review: Hamish Hawk - ‘Angel Numbers’
Hamish Hawk’s lyricism is simply incredible, and it hits home hard.
Hamish Hawk, a man who’s dulcet tones you will hear on 6Music and, if you’re really up-to-date, his breakthrough album Heavy Elevator, which had its debut in 2021. If you haven’t heard of Hamish Hawk, or his music, I urge you to. Hawk has been compared to Jarvis Cocker, The Smiths and other literary-referencing, regional-accented social commentators whom Indie-listeners all know and love. The comparison is understandable, but Hamish Hawk is not a man who is attempting to emulate a post-punk, industrial sound. Instead, Hawk has a sound which one cannot place in time, Angel Numbers is enigmatic in this respect. It is both a dissection of the human experience, and yet has lyrics which have one pondering long after you listen to the album in full.
Angel Numbers is a piece which is both ethereal in lyrics and in the richness of instruments which complement them. The first track on the album ‘Once Upon an Acid Glance’ is a prime example of this. The keyboard is lightly touched but effective, and mixed with harmonies, and a constant drum beat. It is a genuinely lovely song to listen to, and echoes an almost church-like atmosphere. The use of prayer imagery, along with the motif of angels and religion pumping through this album keep each song celestial and attached to one another.
The album keeps this atmosphere throughout, his collaboration with Samantha Crain on the song ‘Rest and Veneers’ is another example of this diaphanous tone. Even in a duet, where tokens of love and affection are thrown, Hawk still remains grounded, commenting on the "California sociopaths [who] are turning our gears" and, instead, focusing on the special bond of homely comforts being with your love. However, if a punchy and lusty song is what you’re after, ‘Dog-Eared August’ is a stand-out candidate. This song will be yelled drunkenly in indie clubs forever after. Hawk laments that he is “on his knees already / how embarrassing for you” and describes the object of his affections as having “eyes wide enough to shoot stars across”. These sentiments are ones we’ve all shared about someone we like, and Hamish Hawk’s summer fling is one we’ve all experienced.
When one likes an album, you are inclined to say that each track holds its own and has its own special place in an album. All killer, no filler. There are very few albums to which this applies, but Hamish Hawks’ Angel Numbers is one of them. The release of this album is sure to inspire a flurry of new songsmiths who delve into their innermost feelings and outward disdain for how the world can be.
Words by Megan Budgen
