Hamish Hawk

A Firmer Hand is the third in a run of superlative Hamish Hawk albums which began in 2021 with Heavy Elevator, and continued last year with Angel Numbers. Hawk has been making music with serious intent since 2014, when he self-released Aznavour as Hamish James Hawk. Championed early on by King Creosote and Idlewild, the following year he recorded the 10-inch Mull EP before forming Hamish Hawk & The New Outfit, a unit which morphed into his current band.

For all its focus on often aggressive masculinity, when A Firmer Hand is soft, it is softer than anything Hawk has done before. ‘Christoper St.’, all 90 seconds of it, is almost unbearably fragile. The album’s tender, hypnotic opener, the shimmering “Juliet As Epithet”, was written in Melbourne while Hawk was visiting his brother, spending his days walking the city alone. “I loved writing that song so much,” he says. “It’s exceptionally true to life,  and so close to me.

“This record has made great demands of me, both artistically and personally, and I imagine it’s going to continue to do that over the next few months,” he says. “But just as my other songs have taught me things over time, I have a feeling that what this album will teach me after its release is going to be more valuable to me than any previous set of lessons. It feels like a necessary revelation. I think releasing this album might actually have a positive effect on my life.” A coming of age record, indeed.