Treeful Of Starling

Hawksley Workman's new album, Treeful of Starling, waltzes and enchants both on a lyrical and auditory level. While Workman's last CD, Lover/Fighter, found him embracing more of a rock style-- garnering praise in some critical circles and venom in others--this disc is free of that, instead embracing a perpetual state of whimsy and a Baroque style throughout. From the opening child-like tale "A Moth Is Not a Butterfly" (which could easily fit in on a Sesame Street episode) to the next cut, "Hey Hey Hey (My Little Beauties)" this 36-minute collection is short on quantity, but packed with musical pageantry.

Workman has clearly spent many hours creating poetry and setting it to music, especially evident in "It's A Long Life To Always Be Longing," where he sings "a run-in with fear/left ruin it its wake/is the measure of a man/how much love he can fake?" and the hushed loveliness of the fragile "You Are Too Beautiful" where he completes the title's thought with "to be in bed with me." Workman's own production talent frames the music wonderfully; there is obvious effort and care behind this work, and it shines brightly as a result. --Denise Sheppard

With his increasing rock triumphs, growing fan communities and formidable body of work, Hawksley Workman has evolved from the slight, pin-striped eclectic with a critically-acclaimed diamond voice, to the panoramic, guitar-punishing superstar with no performance limits. After the success of 2003's lover/fighter, the adoring battlefield was cleared and swords were beaten into plowshares. Now Workman invites the audience to listen with wide-eared wonder at something as simple and earnest as "Treeful Of Starling." This, his latest album in a career of far-reaching achievement, is a return to what motivated him as a musical artist in the first place. As he puts it, "an exercise in remembering what it is about music that is important to me." From this mission statement comes an album of remarkable directness and breathtaking beauty that clings to home truths and heartfelt emotions. "Treeful of Starling" reveals a child's eye view of our loving lives. Old-fashioned sentiments recall musical elements not heard since his debut "For Him & The Girls." Fans of the original Hawksley sound will love this superb collection of hopeful torch songs that harkens back to simpler times.

Canadian singer / songwriter hawksley workman began his career writing love letters to the mythical isodora and publishing them in the local newspaper in the personals section.· A musician of incredible velocity, hawksley workman is at the top of his game when he has the solitude and serenity to write and record his music in atomic bursts, focused into monastic postures, accessing grace and brilliance in fluid, sweeping motions.·With his increasing rock triumphs, growing fan communities and formidable body mass, workman has evolved from the slight, pin-striped oddball with a critically-acclaimed diamond voice, to the panoramic, guitar-punishing superstar with no performance limits.· Hawksley workman will be in australia in april playing the great escape festival and a run of dates along the east coast.