Richard Hawley wrote:
if you stand still you don't grow
If you're the right age, say below 20, it's a matter of standing still for long enough, isn't it?
Now seriously, I love the mini-album (I've got the extended version). Honestly, I thought it'd be more obvious that it had been made by a guitarist that had gone solo, but I was glad it wasn't so. Of course, I already knew Richard had ended up being a great singer and composer, but I wondered whether he had been so from the start. And I don't think there's one weak song in the mini-album, which is a great way to get started.
I don't mind change, as long as the result is at least as good as what there was before. When I first heard 'Standing at the Sky's Edge', I thought it very different from the only other album I knew by then, 'Lady's Bridge'. But if I had first heard 'Lady's Bridge' knowing only the mini-album, it would have seemed very different to me, too.
My favourite track at present is 'Happy Families'. By the way, what's the reason for the use of the same lyrics in that and 'Bang to Rights'? Just a matter of having some good lines, wanting to know what melody suited them best, and finally deciding both were good enough to keep them? Was it done on purpose? Or did you forget you'd already used them in another song?