Coles Corner

If David Lynch made movies in England, Richard Hawley would likely provide the soundtracks. The British singer/songwriter worked as a guitarist for Pulp and others before emerging as a distinctive solo artist, but the series of albums that began with his 2001 debut full-length, LATE NIGHT FINAL, have proven Hawley to be a truly singular artistic figure. With a smooth, deep croon that suggests Ricky Nelson giving Mark Lanegan voice lessons, Hawley turns out a hushed, lonesome sound that pays homage to elegant '60s pop/rock a la Roy Orbison and Johnny Rivers. COLES CORNER is as fine an exemplar of Hawley's approach as one could want, as twangy, reverb-heavy guitar lines dance around sparse orchestrations and gentle compositions full of satin-bedecked loneliness. Pitched perfectly in a sonic spot triangulated by Chet Baker's vocal albums, Sinatra's ONLY THE LONELY, and the bachelor-pad pop of the Burt Bacharach/Jimmy Webb school, the wee-hours sound of COLES CORNER suggests that, in the right hands, melancholy can be downright fun.