British singer-songwriter Richard Hawley is a true romantic and shows this on albums full of baroque pop. Music that always conveys grandeur, with a penchant for orchestral sixties pop and West-Coast country rock. His ever tasteful guitar playing ties in with this while he sings with a pleasantly jagged baritone voice. Further opens remarkably strong with the rocker Off My Mind. Hawley wanted to
… make a pointier record this time and this craftsman succeeds of course. Flamboyant strings and low-transcending surf guitars are now more in the service of a collection of compact and mostly uptempo pop and rock songs. Hawley was once the guitarist for the British group Pulp. Despite his craftsmanship, he lacks the charisma or whimsy of his former bandmate . Everything is right at Further, but it is also safe and predictable music. (MR)more