Hamish Hawk – “The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973”

SXSW 2023 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 5

Pairs Well With… Dermott Kennedy, Ray LaMontagne, Hozier

Hamish Hawk’s lyrically dense songs are evocative and imaginative, with an emphasis on imaginative, to the point we were wondering what mind came up these incongruous images.  But then we saw him last year, and it all made sense. His conveys his melodic croon with a fevered intensity and utmost seriousness about his lyrics, no matter how abstruse. Examples are required. His strongest offering, “The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973,” begins, “To write a cathedral, I'll need a ball-point pen, It’ll sound like ‘Common People’ sung by Christopher Wren, with an upright piano with nice, narrow keys, In a Glaswegian chapel or a Parisian library.”  An internet search quickly revealed that Christopher Wren designed St. Paul’s Cathedral in London which helps to understand these lyrics to a point (kudos if you already knew this fact.) His recent album, Angel Numbers, released in February, follows in similar vein. “Money” tell the listener that “these Chinese plastics want to tell me something about real life.”  “Think of Us Kissing” remembers his “feckless sex dreams with cowards' omissions.” I decided not to look up these phrases on my work computer. The bottom line is that it all works rather brilliantly together. Hawk’s English accent, dramatic intonation, and a strong indie rock band that expertly accompanies and accentuates his crescendos makes for a great show. We plan to see Hamish Hawk again, and then retire to the bar to Google his latest lyrical incantations. (David Zlotnick)