Lawson Hull
Lawson Hull’s modesty does little to conceal his immense musical and lyrical talent. Warm, atmospheric and spacious, Lawson’s music oozes comfort, and places him amongst Australia’s greatest contemporary indie folk voices: think Angus and Julia Stone, Boy and Bear and #1 Dads.
The Newcastle-based artist merges fascinating prose with cinematic production and artful songcraft on his 2021 EP, Hangin’ Out with Cowboys [Nettwerk]. Personally, he’s “not much for cowboy hats.” However, much like the title suggests, he’s got a few friends who are. This body of work bottles the expanse of the outback’s breathtaking vistas into robust guitars, dreamy beats, and chantable hooks. With a little poetic license and tasteful embellishment, Lawson’s deft and dynamic storytelling brings these tracks to life with all the gusto of a classic flick. “I always felt like I needed to tell the immediate truth about details in my life when I wrote songs, but I recently realized I don’t,” he admits. Pretty much every song is fictional…”
Hangin’ Out with Cowboys was the culmination of years devoted to his craft. After a series of independent releases, “Pain” represented a breakthrough moment. In between his signing to Nettwerk Music Group, it eclipsed 9.2 million Spotify streams and paved the way for his acclaimed debut EP, Dreaming Is Easy. At the top of the global lockdown, he hunkered down in his bedroom and started to write. As restrictions eased, he travelled to Sydney in order to demo tunes.
He initially teased the EP with ‘Mexico’, which he describes as “a classic love song about sweeping your lover off her feet.” Beyond amassing 200K streams within a month, Milky praised the song: “Set atop a mesmerizing guitar line, Hull’s dreamy vocals mesmerize as the track plays out.” On the heels of “Cowboys,” he unveiled the anthemic single “Parking Lot.” Lush guitar glides over arena-ready percussion as his hypnotic hook gives way to a soaring guitar lead.“It’s about going through everyday life in places like grocery stores and parking lots,” he elaborates. “It makes us think, ‘What am I doing? Why am I stuck in traffic? Should I be somewhere else?’ You can’t find yourself by looking around this town. You’re just going through the motions.” The project concludes with “Baby Let Go.” After a plaintive acoustic guitar intro, it builds towards another glorious fuzzed-out crescendo as he urges, “Would you let go.”
Since the EP, Lawson has gifted us with an acoustic version of the much beloved ‘Mexico’, produced by Byron Bay’s Garrett Kato. Then, in mid-2022, he teamed up with Hein Cooper on ‘Maze’, a heady track that ruminates on an exhausting and isolating struggle with anxiety and self-doubt: “I got caught in the maze again”. Before that, we heard ‘Sweetheart’, a collaboration with Nashville songwriter and producer Old Sea Brigade. The track tells the story of a man reminiscing on the earlier days of a relationship. A connection that was once intimate and warm has now turned distant, with Lawson pleading “sweetheart, you’re slipping through my hands.” Performances with Julia Stone, Riley Pearce and Hein Cooper over 2022 prove that Lawson Hull is only on the up.
Lawson’s next single, “Wanna Be With You” is out on October 14th, and is a taste of his upcoming project slated for release in February 2023.