Julie Hawk - Julie Hawk EP

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 26 / 1 / 2013

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As her website tells you, Julie Hawk grew up in an eclectic musical household in the West of Ireland and, apart from becoming an expert at precipitation, she spent her hours listening to everything from Bob Dylan to Arvo Pärt. Closely followed by fiddle and then later the guitar, she took up the piano at the age of five, whilst singing in as many styles as she could, echoing artists such as Kate Bush and Joanna Newsom. Last year she started getting her music noticed by supporting the likes of Benjamin Francis, Leftwich and the Magic Numbers’ Michele Stodart. She cites St. Vincent, Joanna Newsom, Kate Bush, the Dodos, Lisa Hannigan, TuneYards, the National and Cate le Bon as among her influences, and you can hear some of these influences coming through on this debut EP. Me personally, I would put her somewhere in the room with a toned-down Bjork. There is also a slight hint towards Ellie Goulding. You can also see the comparison with Kate Bush, and musically I can see the National pushing through. The first track on this wonderfully different EP is 'The Value of Gold' and has been released already as a single. Hawk gently grasps your hand and leads you trembling and nervous into an extended play on the trials and tribulations of life and the inevitable depths of decay. It is like a battle for supremacy between light and dark. It may come as no surprise then when I tell you that 'The Value of Gold' and its equally mesmeric 'B' side, a great reworked version of the Smiths 'This Charming Man', have already received praise from BBC6 music icons Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson and Bella Union founder, Simon Raymonde. This EP sports six tracks altogether. So in theory that's six tracks which the artist has to get her point across and make us notice her. Julie Hawk actually manages to pull it off with the first track, never mind the rest. With its start and with ‘This Charming Man’, which is the last track on the EP, providing an end to make most other bands/singers jealous, the middle part of the EP is, however, worthy of praise too. 'The West' is a brilliant Wild Beasts- like affair.'Cinders' for me meanwhile manages to bring you as close to Hawk’s real persona as is possible, while at the same keeping you at arm's length from it with the Bush similarity. Julie Hawk is destined for better things, and the EP is one that you have to get out and buy and to give a listen to. If it passes you by unheard, you will live to regret it and when your mate down the pub turns round and says.....”Oh yeah.... I bought an EP today by a lass named Julie Hawk.....”

Track Listing:-

1 The Value Of Gold
2 Maps
3 The West
4 Age In Years
5 Cinders
6 This Charming Man

Band Links:-

https://www.instagram.com/hawkbandofficial/
https://twitter.com/hawkofficial
https://www.facebook.com/HAWKOFFICIAL/
http://www.songkick.com/artists/8128888-hawk
http://www.hawkofficial.com/

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