Hamish Hawk - Angel Numbers

When you've released an album as great as 'Heavy Elevator', you need to be certain that it's follow-up will hit from note one.
And with the opening string crecendo of "Once Upon An Acid Glance" intoducing Hamish Hawk's Walker-esque baritone, he is certainly off to a good start.
The lyrical poetry and references, and the (successful) attempts to weave in a word with more syallables than should fit the gap remain a continuum from his previous effort.

When followed by "Thinking Of Us Kissing" and "Elvis Look-alike Shadows", you'd be forgiven for thinking the album is front-loaded and will run out of gas at some point.
It doesn't, it just keeps rolling along serving up more top tunes highlighting all aspects of Hamish's talent and delivery.

But ... great though it is, it just feels like it's missing "something" - that "something" that elevated 'Heavy Elevator' into an album that I'd recommend to anyone who'd listen.
Let me be clear there is nowt wrong with 'Angel Numbers' - it is a very fine piece of work, and the strength of some of the songs may just elevate Hamish Hawk to greater commercial success and a wider audience.  Certainly "Bridget St. John" and/or "Money" have the capacity to do just that, and "Dogeared August" would light up any festival.

And here comes another qualification: the more I listen to this album, the more it goes in.  Still not wholly convinced (7 listens so far) - is is the track sequencing?  is it the flow? is it my expectation of a closer cousin to 'Heavy Elevator' (it's the same band and the same singer, so it's not too far removed)? is it that the songs don't feel as honed as their predecessors?
Maybe I'm just expecting too much in short time, and as I say more is revealed on each listen.  I shall persevere, because there is a great album here - the songs stand on their own so maybe I just need to follow the ebb and flow of the album better. 

One other takeaway - a line in the title track "Angel Numbers" had me searching out the etymology of mortgage.  Everyday is a school day ...

Once Upon An Acid Glance

Thinking Of Us Kissing

Angel Numbers