CD of the week

This week's CD choice

Truelove's Gutter Mute ****

"Call 999 – Richard Hawley's been robbed," exclaimed Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner when Richard Hawley's The Lady's Bridge(2007), didn't win the Mercury Music Prize. Justice, of course, has nothing to do with it, but if Truelove's Gutterdoesn't get some kind of recognition at next year's Mercury (and many other award ceremonies), the police will have to don riot gear and storm the barricades.

Truelove's Gutteris the epitome of the songwriter's recent minimalist output that explores damaged or brittle emotions. The vocal stylings effortlessly mix early Scott Walker, Jim Reeves, Matt Munro and Frank Sinatra (in his Wee Small Hours of the Morningguise) to wonderful effect.

The sonic backdrop is more idiosyncratic, using such uncommon acoustic instruments as a crystal baschet (comprising more than 50 chromatically tuned glass rods) and a megabass waterphone (once described by Tom Waits as sounding like “a cascading crystal waterfall of light amidst the songs of a whale”). Add Hawley’s occasional stunning guitar work and you have a music match that sounds familiar, yet by virtue of his distinctive modus operandi is utterly of itself.

There are only eight tracks on the album, but each is imbued with a spaciousness that belies its length. Melancholia weeps and seeps throughout, and the song titles really are relevant to the subject matter: As the Dawn Breaks, Ashes on the Fire, Don't Get Hung Up in Your Soul, Soldier On, Don't You Cry. The pivotal track is the beautiful Remorse Code,wherein, through an ambient music pathway, Hawley enters the shadows and refuses to leave.

Truelove's Gutteris a themed album and a no-singles zone, but there are no portentous statements here. Significant emotions are broached, but Hawley manages to underplay the serious content with fluid lyricism and quicksilver musicianship. It's all too lovely for words. www.richardhawley.co.uk

Download tracks: As the Dawn Breaks, Remorse Code