Search - Hawksley Workman :: Lover / Fighter

Raw & Pure

Luke | Vancouver | 01/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When you find yourself skipping every second track on a cd, or changing the radio station at an unreal pace, you know you properly appreciate music, and you know what you are looking for. Lover/Fighter is a cd for those who enjoy pure, raw, meaningful music. "No reason to cry out your eyes" is the only song off this album that I had ever heard played on air, or seen on mtv, and although it was a fast favourite, I never really explored the artist. After downloading further songs, I was compelled to buy the cd as it appeared to have 3 quality songs on it, which in this day and age is scarce to say the least. After popping the cd in my car player, I listened to it through, and I was amazed by the fact that I felt no urge to skip any tracks, or search for my "favourites". Lover/Fighter is solid through and through, and it leads you through the emotions, from mellow tracks like "wonderful and sad", the rock-ish "smoke baby" to the simple solitude of a song like "autumn's here". This is a must have for your collection, one of the few cds i don't regret purchasing."

Diamond In The Rough

Jasper | Toronto | 08/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In typical fashion, excellent music flies right under the media radar. This may be blamed, I Think, on a poor choice for the first single (Anger as Beauty), one of the, if not the, poorest songs here. That aside, Hawksley makes some excellent tunes on this CD, and the whole album flows very well.



That Hawksley is a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic is on display everywhere.



I can't find much negative to say about this album. "We Will Still Need a Song" makes you wonder about who will be sitting next to you when you're 85 and sitting on a rocking chair outside on a nice sunny day in September. However, there is still definitely a note of sadness to this song. Sadness is a consistent theme on this album even when the beat and sound is upbeat. The one song this doesn't apply to is "Anger as Beauty" which just gets in the way of an excellent flow.



The five best songs are all one after the other, starting with "Tonight Romanticize the Automobile" and ending with "Addicted." "Tonight" is just a solid showcase of the talents here: guitar is on full display, and so are Hawksley's gravelly vocals. "Future Language of Slaves" is a haunting piece of vocal work with very subtle instrumentation that adds to it. The highlight is undoubtedly "Slaves... slaves..." A positively excellent song when listened to far from a large city at night, perhaps at the cottage.



"Smoke Baby" is a masterful fusion of the rest of the album's sound with a more urban vibe. However, it doesn't pick up the pace too much, which is good, because otherwise it would definitely jar the rest of the album, as the tracks surrounding it are so delicate (and that's meant in the best possible way).



If you listen to "Autumn's Here" 50 times over a year and never *once* have your eyes even get moist, there is something wrong with you. I can't add anything more to this.



Now on my version of the CD , there is a song separating "Autumn's Here" and "Addicted." They might have flipped the last two songs on this version. In any case, "Addicted" is just a wicked jam tune. It does drag a bit, but since it does finish the album (or does for me), I didn't mind. IT gives you time to get up and press play as soon as the CD finishes or to pick another CD. You won't want to though.



An excellent album, and I can't think of any vocalist that could pull off half the songs on this album other than Hawksley.



4.5 < Hawksley Workman, Lover/Fighter < 5.0



An Excellent CD!"

Beautiful...

Filmore Mescalito Holmes | tinymixtapes.com | 03/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Possibly the first album I've heard start with the word "f*ck," Lover/Fighter is the most emotional work of rock music I've had the immense pleasure of hearing since Nirvana's heyday. I believe with all I have left for a heart that this is Hawksley's Sea Change (Beck) and possibly even his Pet Sounds. While there is not one real dance floor tune like "Striptease," I'm beginning to suspect that was a one off anyway, the presence of any obvious singles as such would only detract from the poetic quality and sensitive fragility of this moving piece.
I originally heard most of this album in the background at a music store and didn't really think much of it at the time. That taste set me back in buying this album a few months but as soon as I did, I couldn't turn it off. It gets better every time I hear it and, once you get over the fact there aren't any stripper staples to be found, you'll pick up all the little touches and signatures that make each song unique in their common goal of creating a work of pure singer-songwriter rapture. This is the type of art that lives for decades. Give it a couple listens. You will thank yourself."