False Lights from the Land - EP

iTunes Review

“Remorse Code” from Richard Hawley’s incredible 2009 album, Truelove’s Gutter, is one of the album’s somber epics. At just under ten minutes, it offers an interrupted slow gait perfect for cruising down a coastal highway or a deserted backroad in the wee hours of morning. This EP is a chance for those who haven’t been able to zero in on Hawley’s shocking talents with his full-length solo albums, all of which deserve greater attention. The Smoke Fairies are a folk-blues duo that adds their own gospel-choir haunts to these tunes of timeless traditionalism and lament. “Shallow Brown” is a haunting sea shanty turned into a gospel plea. “The Ellan Vannin Tragedy” could easily be a solo Hawley track with its smooth electric guitars and shuffling groove. Imagine Chris Isaak’s debt to Roy Orbison replaced with a nod and wink towards country crooner Jim Reeves. “There’s a Storm a Comin’” could be the prelude to Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.